Slovakia sees economic slowdown in Q1

Slovakia's economy grew by 3.3 percent in the first quarter of 2016, the Slovak Statistical Office said on Friday.

The growth of the Slovak economy slowed down in the beginning of the year in line with expectations.

"This was mostly because of the conclusion of public investments financed under the previous EU funds budgeting period 2007-13, with a two-year lag built in to accommodate gap between approval and implementation," said UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia analyst Lubomir Korsnak.

A more detailed structure of the GDP will be published in June.

"We expect the domestic demand to continue serving as the main driving force of the Slovak economy, even though investments have likely dropped significantly in comparison to the dynamic growth of the past year," said Slovenska Sporitelna analyst Katarina Muchova.

Another factor fueling growth via household consumption is also the development on the labor market, analysts said. Household consumption continued its dynamic growth for the consecutive ninth quarter, which was reflected in the growth of retail revenues and particularly the sales of automobiles.

"The consumption was driven by the improvement of the labor market, growth in real incomes as well as lower energy charges, which untied resources for additional consumption," pointed out J&T Banka analyst Stanislav Panis.