Hard Brexit might slow down Slovak economy by almost 2 percent

Estimates of international institutions have established that a potential hard Brexit could slow down the Slovak economy anywhere between 0.3-1.9 percent of GDP in the long term, although the prognosis of the Financial Policy Institute (IFP) is somewhat milder at between 0.7-1.4 percent of GDP. The main reason for the slowdown would be a drop in direct exports of Slovak products to the UK, especially of cars. If a mutually acceptable Brexit deal is clinched with Great Britain, the impact of its departure from the EU would be less harsh for Slovakia. According to IFP, a soft Brexit might slow down the Slovak economy by somewhere between 0.4-0.9 percent of GDP. The large differences in estimates stem from the use of various models and predictions regarding the response of the British pound and unpredictable reactions from markets.