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

Dátum: 06.12.2007

Probability of euro adoption rose to 75% in November

The probability of Slovakia adopting euro from 2009 increased to 75% in November compared to 71% in October. Positive trend reflect approving of the state budget for 2008 by the parliament as well as better than expected development of public finance in 2007. In November, 21 local experts took part on a regular INEKO survey. From among them, 18 believe that Slovakia will meet the euro target and 3 that it will not. The average conversion rate assessed by 17 analysts was 32.63 SKK/EUR. The assessments ranged from 31.50 SKK/EUR to 33.15 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***
November 2007 21 18 : 3 75% 2.6% of GDP 2.0% 2.8%
October 2007 19 17 : 2 71% 2.8% of GDP 1.9% 2.7%
September 2007 16 13 : 3 70% 2.9% of GDP 1.8% 2.6%
August 2007 15 14 : 1 77% 2.8% of GDP 1.9% 2.7%
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*
November 2007 85% 81% 93% 32.98 32.63 (17)
October 2007 78% 85% 88% 33.02 32.61 (15)
September 2007 77% 85% 85% 33.13 32.66 (11)
August 2007 81% 86% 90% 32.78 32.51 (13)
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.

Maastricht - graf

List of surveyed experts:

  1. Barta Juraj, SLSP
  2. Blaščák Mário, Allianz – Slovenská DSS
  3. Čechovičová Silvia, ČSOB
  4. Gábriš Marek, ČSOB
  5. Hagara Eduard, ING Bank
  6. Jurzyca Eugen, INEKO
  7. Kohútiková Elena, VUB, former vicegovernor of the National Bank of Slovakia
  8. Koršňák Ľubomír, UniCredit Bank
  9. Kotian Juraj, Erste Bank Vienna
  10. Kovalčík Ján, Trend Analyses
  11. Lenko Martin, VÚB
  12. Mušák Michal, SLSP
  13. Ondriska Pavol, ING DSS
  14. Pažitný Peter, Health Policy Institute
  15. Pätoprstý Viliam, UniCredit Bank
  16. Prega Róbert, Tatra banka
  17. Senkovič Marek, Slovnaft
  18. Šrámková Lucia, ING Bank
  19. Tóth Ján, ING Bank
  20. Tvaroška Vladimír, Former Deputy Minister of Finance of the SR
  21. Zlacký Vladimír, Ernst & Young