Slovakia - Factors To Watch on April 5

                                
 BRATISLAVA, April 5 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press
reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial
markets on Monday.
                                
 
                                
 LISBON TREATY
                                
 President Ivan Gasparovic will attend the Bratislava Economy
University's conference on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty,
0800 GMT.
                                
 
                                
 EURO AWARDS
                                
 Central Bank (NBS) Vice-governor Viliam Ostrozlik will
attend an award ceremony for student euro projects, 0800 GMT.

                                
 SLOVAKIA ASKS EU FOR EURO-READINESS REPORT
                                
 Slovakia applied on Saturday for a European Commission
assessment of its readiness to adopt the euro next year, vowing
to take new measures to curb inflation, if need be, to get the
green light for euro entry.
                                
 [ID:nL05653268] [RTRS-EUR-ECB-POL-FRX-SK]
                                
 
                                
 SLOVAKIA'S BID TO JOIN THE EURO - TRICHET
                                
 "What is very important to us is the question of
sustainability in respect of the Maastricht criteria" said the
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet on Saturday
on a sideline on a meeting in the Slovenian town of Brdo.
                                
 [ID:nDEG003396] [RTRS-POL-EU-SK]
                                
 [ID:nL05363211]
                                
 
                                
 CBANK FOREX RESERVES RISE TO $19.88 BLN
                                
 The Slovak central bank's (NBS) foreign currency reserves
edged up to $19.879 billion as of April 2, from $19.830 billion
on March 26, the bank said on Friday.
                                
 [ID:nL04873955] [RTRS-CEN-FRX-MMT-SK]
                                
 
                                
 PRESS DIGEST
                                
 ------------
                                
 EURO ADOPTION
                                
 Deputy Finance Minister Frantisek Palko reiterated Slovakia
was ready to enter the euro zone and said that chances of
adopting the single currency were very high.
                                
 Sme, page 6
                                
 
                                
 MEDIA BILL
                                
 The new media bill may change journalists' obligation to
protect the source to a right to do so, Boris Zala, a senior
official of Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer party, said. Zala
said he expected no changes in the right of reply clause.
                                
 Pravda, page 8
                                
 
                                
 LISBON TREATY
                                
 Pal Csaky, leader of the ethnic Hungarian SMK party, has
hinted SMK might support the EU treaty if the government allowed
a debate on the disputed media bill. The opposition has blocked
ratification of the treaty since February.
                                
 Pravda, page 8
                                
 
                                
 OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
                                
 Iveta Radicova, Deputy Chairwoman of the opposition SDKU
party, has confirmed she would run for president in 2009
election as the joint opposition candidate.
                                
 Pravda, page 3
                                
 
                                
 News editor of the day: Peter Laca, +421 2 5341 8402; fax
+421 2 5341 8403
                                
 E-mail: editorial@reuters.sk
                                
 For real-time index quotes, double click in brackets:
                                
 Warsaw WIG20 <.WIG20>  Budapest BUX <.BUX>  Prague PX50
<.PX50>
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