Analysts pleasantly surprised by March foreign trade surplus

Economic analysts were positively surprised by developments in Slovakia's foreign trade balance in March, which posted a surplus of €579 million, up by 65 percent year-on-year. Analysts believe that the figures were mainly driven by sectors that are considered to be the main workhorses of Slovakia's economy. "We can't see from these statistics the sectors that could have contributed to the developments, but I assume that the car industry had its share. This sector was falling behind somewhat in the second half of last year," said Marek Gabriš from CSOB Banka. Slovakia's GDP growth in the first quarter of 2015 will mainly be boosted by domestic demand, but foreign trade will also contribute, said Gabriš, adding that GDP growth for the first quarter of this year may reach 3 percent year-on-year. The official data on GDP growth are expected to be released by the Statistics Office on Wednesday.