The survey on assessments of meeting the Maastricht criteria by Slovakia (August 6th, 2007)

Dátum: 06.08.2007

Probability of euro adoption rose to 78% in July

The probability of Slovakia adopting euro from 2009 was 78% in July compared to 76% in June. The increase was caused mainly by better outlook for fulfilling the Maastricht criteria for the public finance deficit, which should be 2,8% of GDP at the end of 2007. In June, 14 local experts took part on a regular INEKO survey. From among them, 13 believe that Slovakia will meet the euro target and one that it will not. The average conversion rate assessed by twelve of the analysts was 32.58 SKK/EUR. The assessments ranged from 32.00 SKK/EUR to 33.70 SKK/EUR.

Summary of the survey results (average forecasts)

Period Number of participating experts Entering eurozone from 2009 (Yes : No) Probability of adopting euro on January 1st 2009 Public finance deficit for 2007* Inflation** Reference inflation***
July 2007 14 13 : 1 78% 2.8% of GDP 1.9% 2.7%
June 2007 16 15 : 1 76% 2.9% of GDP 2.0% 2.7%
May 2007 18 17 : 1 77% 2.9% of GDP 2.0% 2.7%
April 2007 18 17 : 1 76% 2.9% of GDP 2.0% 2.8%
March 2007 18 17 : 1 76% 2.9% of GDP 2.1% 2.8%
February 2007 21 20 : 1 74% 2.9% of GDP 2.1% 2.8%
January 2007 20 17 : 3 72% 2.9% of GDP 2.1% 2.8%
December 2006 15 12 : 3 66% 2.9% of GDP 2.3% 2.8%
November 2006 22 16 : 6 64% 3.0% of GDP 2.5% 2.9%
October 2006 20 11 : 9 56% 3.0% of GDP 2.8% 2.9%
September 2006 20 10 : 10 52% 3.1% of GDP 2.8% 2.9%

*Including costs of the pension reform **Average 12-month inflation at the end of March 2008 ***1.5% plus the average of 3 best EU countries

Period Probability of fulfilling criteria on public finance deficit Probability of fulfilling criteria on inflation Probability of fulfilling criteria on exchange rate Forecast for SKK/EUR at the end of 2007 Forecast for conversion rate of SKK/EUR*
July 2007 81% 85% 89% 32.78 32.58 (12)
June 2007 79% 85% 88% 32.68 32.44 (11)
May 2007 82% 86% 88% 32.68 32.39 (14)
April 2007 79% 86% 89% 32.68 32.34 (14)
March 2007 80% 86% 88% 32.65 n
February 2007 80% 83% 88% 33.74 n
January 2007 79% 83% 89% 33.91 n
December 2006 79% 72% 88% 33.92 n
November 2006 76% 72% n n n
October 2006 71% 63% n n n
September 2006 66% 61% n n n

n – Not included in the survey *The number in parentheses represents the number of analysts assessing the conversion rate.

List of surveyed experts:

  1. Čechovičová Silvia, ČSOB
  2. Gábriš Marek, ČSOB
  3. Jurzyca Eugen, INEKO
  4. Kohútiková Elena, VUB, former vicegovernor of the National Bank of Slovakia
  5. Koršňák Ľubomír, UniCredit Bank
  6. Kovalčík Ján, Trend
  7. Mušák Michal, SLSP
  8. Ondriska Pavol, ING DSS
  9. Pažitný Peter, Health Policy Institute
  10. Prega Róbert, Tatra banka
  11. Senkovič Marek, Slovnaft
  12. Štekláčová Lucia, ING Bank
  13. Tóth Ján, ING Bank
  14. Tvaroška Vladimír, Former Deputy Minister of Finance of the SR