Slovakia - Factors To Watch on Oct 18

    BRATISLAVA, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press 
reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial 
markets on Thursday. 
     
    QUESTION HOUR 
    Ministers will answer questions from MPs during the regular 
question hour in parliament, 1200 GMT. 
     
    SNS NEWS CONFERENCE 
    The far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), a junior ruling 
coalition member, will hold a news conference, 0800 GMT. 
     
    SLOVAKS STAY ON EURO PATH DESPITE INFLATION-CBANKER 
    Slovakia should stay on track to qualify for 2009 euro 
adoption in spite of a worsening inflation outlook, central bank 
(NBS) Governor Ivan Sramko said on Wednesday. 
    [ID:nL17254204] [RTRS-CEN-FRX-SK] 
     
    IMF: SLOVAK EURO BID TO SIGNAL CEE TREATMENT 
    The fate of Slovakia's euro bid will signal to the other 
euro zone hopefuls what treatment they can expect when applying 
to join the single currency area, a senior International 
Monetary Official said on Wednesday. 
    [ID:nL1776737] [RTRS-EUR-CEEU-EMRG-SK] 
     
    SLOVAKIA AGREES TO DOUBLE AFGAN DEPLOYMENT 
    The Slovak government approved on Wednesday a proposal to 
double its military presence in Afghanistan by deploying 58 
officers and doctors there in 2008, a government document 
showed. 
    [ID:nL17556615] [RTRS-POL-SECUR-DIP-SK] 
     
    SEPT JOBLESS RATE RISES TO 8.30 PCT 
    Slovakia's unemployment rate rose to 8.30 percent in 
September from a record low of 8.19 percent in August, the 
Labour Office said on Wednesday. 
    [ID:nPRG000546] [RTRS-JOB-SK] 
     
    PRESS DIGEST 
    ------------ 
    $1.1 BLN DIVIDENDS 
    The government expects income of 25 billion crowns ($1.05 
billion) in dividends from state stakes in strategic companies. 
    Pravda, page 21 
     
    PRIVATE PENSION SCHEME 
    The social affairs ministry expects 30,800 people to switch 
from the private pension scheme into the pay-as-you-go system, 
which would boost state budget revenues by 1.6 billion crowns 
($67.48 million). The finance ministry, which originally 
expected a 2.0 billion crown impact, declined to comment. 
    Sme, page 7 
     
    GOVT JOB CUTS 
    The government will sack only four percent of civil 
servants, instead of previously projected cut of 20 percent, or  
30,000 jobs. 
    Pravda, page 1 
     
    CHRISTMAS PAYMENTS 
    The governmnet agreed on Wednesday to pay out Christmas 
bonuses of 1,500 and 2,000 crowns to pensioners with monthly 
income below 11,257 crowns. The bonuses will be paid in December 
or January. 
    Pravda, page 4 
     
    SMER KEEPS LEAD 
    The Smer party of Prime Minister Robert Fico kept its 
popularity lead in October, taking almost 41 percent in a 
Statistics Office opinion poll. The SDKU party of ex-Prime 
Minister Mikulas Dzurinda came second with 14.5 percent. 
    Hospodarske Noviny, page 2 
     
    For news on upcoming events in the United States and other 
Group of Seven countries, see <G7TODAY>. 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: Peter Laca on +421 2 5341 8402; fax: 
+421 2 5341 8403 
    E-mail: editorial@reuters.sk 
    Reuters Messaging: peter.laca.reuters.com@reuters.net 
     
    For real-time index quotes, double click in brackets: 
    Warsaw WIG20 <.WIG20>  Budapest BUX <.BUX>  Prague PX50 
<.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] 
  
 ((Compiled by Martin Santa; Bratislava Newsroom; Email: 
editorial@reuters.sk; +421-2-5341-8402)) 
 ($1=.7040 Euro) 
 ($1=23.71 Slovak Crown) 
 ($1=23.71 Slovak Crown)