Slovakia - Factors To Watch on Dec 19

...   The government will hold its regular weekly meeting, 0900 
GMT. Ministers are expected to discuss future highway projects. 
     
    CBANK HOLDS RATES, ECONOMY NO RISK TO CPI 
    The Slovak central bank held interest rates unchanged for 
the eighth consecutive month on Tuesday, and analysts expected 
the firming crown to allow stable rates for months to come 
before planned euro adoption in 2009. 
    [ID:nL18417229] [RTRS-CEN-PLCY-INT-SK] 
     
    CBANKER SAYS NO PROPOSAL TO RAISE RATES 
    The Slovak central bank did not vote on any change to 
interest rates at its monthly policy meeting on Tuesday as no 
such proposal was brought up, Governor Ivan Sramko told a news 
conference. 
    [ID:nPRG000637] [RTRS-CEN-PLCY-INT-SK] 
     
    HEATING PRICES TO RISE BY 0.4 PCT IN 2008 
    Heating prices in Slovakia will rise by 0.4 percent on 
average next year, after staying flat in 2007, the state energy 
market regulator (URSO) said on Tuesday. 
    [ID:nL18408308] [RTRS-REGS-UTIL-SK] 
     
    JAN-OCT C/A GAP NARROWS TO SKK 63.2 BLN 
    Slovakia's current account showed a preliminary deficit of 
63.2 billion crowns ($2.70 billion) in January-October, compared 
with an 96.7 billion crown gap in the same period of 2006, the 
central bank said on Tuesday. 
    [ID:nPRG000638] [RTRS-MMT-CEN-SK] 
     
    END-SEPT FOREIGN DEBT RISES TO $39.8 BLN 
    Slovakia's gross foreign debt edged up to $39.799 billion at 
the end of September from $38.253 billion at the end of August, 
the central bank (NBS) said on Tuesday. 
    [ID:nL1812282] [RTRS-MMT-FRX-CEN-SK] 
     
    C.BANK DRAINS SKK 125 BLN IN REPO TENDER 
    The Slovak central bank (NBS) accepted all bids in a regular 
two-week repo tender on Tuesday, draining 125.001 billion crowns 
($5.34 billion) from the market, NBS data showed. 
    [ID:nL18720198] [RTRS-MMT-INT-CEN-SK] 
     
    PRESS DIGEST 
    ------------ 
    STRONGER CROWN 
    The crown currency is likely to strengthen in the coming 
months, analysts said. Some market watchers expect another 
revaluation of the central parity within the Exchange Rate 
Mechanism 2 (ERM-2), the euro entry precursor. 
    Pravda, page 18 
     
    LISBON TREATY VOTE 
    Slovak parliament will debate and vote on the new Treaty of 
Lisbon, designed to overhaul the EU's creaking institutions, in 
January. 
    Sme, page 1 
     
    PUBLIC MEDIA CONTROL 
    Prime Minister Robert Fico agreed with coalition partners on 
sharing power over the state's public television and radio 
despite a law banning any political links to public media. 
    Pravda, page 4 
     
    LIVING STANDARDS 
    Slovakia should match living standards of the European 
Union's 15 old member states in the coming 15-20 years, analysts 
said. 
    Hospodarske Noviny, page 1 
     
    For news on upcoming events in the United States and other 
Group  of Seven countries, see . For a diary of 
forthcoming Slovak events, double click [SK/DIARY], and a 
calendar of east European economic indicators, see [CONV/DIARY]. 
     
    News editor of the day: Martin Dokoupil on +421 2 5341 8402; 
fax: +421 2 5341 8403 
    E-mail: editorial@reuters.sk 
    Reuters Messaging: martin.dokoupil.reuters.com@reuters.net 
     
    For real-time index quotes, double click in brackets: 
    Warsaw WIG20   Budapest BUX   Prague PX50 
 
 Other related news: 
 Slovak equities      [SK-E]  E.Europe equities           [.CEE] 
 Slovak money         [SK-M]  Czech debt                  [CZ-D] 
 Slovak Indicators  [SK-ECI]  Emerging forex          [EMRG/FRX] 
 Eastern European     [EEU]   All emerging markets        [EMRG] 
 Hot stocks           [HOT]   Stock markets                [STX] 
 Market debt news     [DBT]   Forex news                   [FRX] 
 TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets                         [TOP/EMRG] 
 TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch                        [TOP/EAST] 
  
  

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]