Central Bank: Slovak GDP to fall by 6.1% this year

Slovakia's GDP in fixed prices is expected to fall by 6.1% in 2020, indicates a survey of commercial bank analysts carried out by the Central Bank of Slovakia (NBS) in March. In February, by contrast, before the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, the NBS had expected GDP to grow by 2.2%. According to the analysts surveyed, the unemployment rate should grow to 7.8% this year, while the February estimate had been 5.9%. Growth in nominal salaries should slow down as well, to 3%, while in February the prediction was 7.6%. Next year, the unemployment rate is expected drop slightly to 7.3%, while nominal salaries should grow by 3.7%.