2015 promising for Slovak economy despite external risks

The Slovak economy is being threatened by several external risks; being primarily the Ukrainian-Russian conflict and possible adverse developments in the eurozone, but economic growth should accelerate in 2015 regardless, Finance Minister Peter Kažimír has told TASR. Economic growth in Slovakia should be facilitated by domestic consumption and the recent initiative of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on allocating funds for strategic European investment projects. The Slovak state budget doesn't count on any further fiscal stimuli, said Kažimír. "It's really important for us to remain on the trajectory of a medium-term goal to reach a balanced budget in 2017. We can't afford any substantial deviation", said the finance minister, adding that the Slovak economy performed decently in 2014 despite a year-on-year fall in foreign demand.