Central Bank: Slovak economy to shrink by 8.2% in 2020

The Slovak economy will probably shrink by 8.2 percent in 2020, which is less than was estimated in June. Nonetheless, its revival in 2021 should be slower than originally expected. It should recover at a tempo of 5.6 percent in 2021 and of 4.2 percent in 2022. "The good news is that the second quarter of 2020 ended better than we had expected," stated Slovak central bank vice-governor Ľudovít Ódor on Wednesday. He added that the bad news is that the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is already in full swing. According to the bank's governor Peter Kažimír, the central bank expects the second wave to follow a more moderate course. The governor at the same time calculated that a total of 45,000 people have lost their jobs in Slovakia so far this year, and it is expected that another 10,000 will join their ranks by the end of 2020.