No one knows what the future holds

摘要

The economy of Austria's eastern neighbour was still reasonably healthy at the end of 2019. even though exports had started to slow down in the second half of the previous year. As a result of this, the Slovak economy grew less than originally forecast. The EU Commission expects to see a real increase of 2.7 per cent for the year as a whole, which is still well above the EU average. At the moment, hardly anyone is willing to risk making a post-corona forecast for the year 2020. In view of the current situation, it is clear that the country - no doubt like the rest of the eurozone - will face a severe recession. It is not yet possible to estimate the extent of the damage caused by the total shutdown, however, as this will depend directly on how long the measures continue. The National Bank of Slovakia has also stopped issuing forecasts. Instead, it is examining various scenarios that predict a contraction of the economy by between a rather optimistic 1.5 per cent and around 10 per cent.