Slovakia - Factors To Watch on May 13

                                
 BRATISLAVA, May 13 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press
reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial
markets on Tuesday.
                                
 
                                
 APRIL HEADLINE INFLATION
                                
 The Statistics Office will publish April headline inflation
data, 0700 GMT. The market predicted consumer prices to have
risen by 0.2 percent on the month by 4.2 percent on an annual
basis.
                                
 
                                
 APRIL CORE INFLATION
                                
 The Statistics Office will publish April core inflation
data, 0700 GMT. Core inflation was forecast at 0.2 percent
month-on-month, for an annual rate of 4.4 percent.
                                
 
                                
 C.BANK REPO TENDER
                                
 The central bank will hold a regular two-week repo tender to
drain market liquidity.
                                
 
                                
 PARLIAMENT SESSION
                                
 Parliament will start a regular monthly session.
                                
 
                                
 CROWN EXTENDS RALLY, SEEN STRONG
                                
 The Slovak crown hit a new record high of 31.710 per euro on
Monday, buoyed by market players betting for a strong conversion
rate against the single currency.
                                
 [ID:nL12484518] [RTRS-MMT-FRX-SK]
                                
 
                                
 Q1 GDP SEEN STRONG DESPITE WEAK MARCH TRADE
                                
 Slovakia's foreign trade balance swung into deficit in
March, but analysts said its net exports would still help the
country stay a European Union growth leader.
                                
 [ID:nL12499267] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-TRD-SK]
                                
 
                                
 MARCH TRADE IN SURPRISE DEFICIT
                                
 Slovakia's foreign trade balance showed a deficit of 1.1
billion crowns ($53.04 million) in March, compared with a
revised surplus of 5.2 billion in February, the Statistics
Office said on Monday.
                                
 [ID:nL1263655] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-TRD-SK]
                                
 
                                
 SLOVAKIA SELLS SKK 2.99 BLN WORTH OF 3-YR BONDS
                                
 Slovakia sold 2.99 billion crowns ($144.2 million) worth of
3-year, zero-coupon state bonds in an auction on Monday, the
Finance Ministry's Debt and Liquidity Management Agency said.
                                
 [ID:nPRG000793] [RTRS-GVD-DBT-ISU-SK]
                                
 
                                
 PRESS DIGEST
                                
 ------------
                                
 FICO IN ISRAEL
                                
 Prime Minister Robert Fico will start a two-day visit to
Israel on Tuesday.
                                
 Sme, page 1
                                
 
                                
 LABOUR MARKET THREATENS GROWTH
                                
 Central bank Governor Ivan Sramko said tightening labour
market and lacking skilled workers could threaten economic
growth in the future.
                                
 Sme, page 6
                                
 
                                
 HIGHER FUEL PRICES
                                
 Diesel prices will rise by 0.6 crowns ($0.029) per litre and
gasoline prices will rise by 0.4 crowns per litre on Tuesday due
to world oil prices.
                                
 Sme, page 7
                                
 
                                
 DOCTORS' WAGES
                                
 The Medical Chamber said it was seeking an increase in wages
for specialised doctors to 2,900 euros in five years.
                                
 Sme, page 7
                                
 
                                
 DRUG PRICES
                                
 The healthcare ministry plans to lower prices of 5,341
imported drugs by 7.4 percent from summer, which should save at
least 900 million crowns.
                                
 Pravda, page 1
                                
 
                                
 RISE PRICES
                                
 The price of rise has risen by 20 percent since the
beginning of the year, and it could rise by a further 20 percent
in the summer.
                                
 Pravda, page 1
                                
 
                                
 PETROL EXCISE TAX
                                
 Former Finance Minister Ivan Miklos said he would propose a
draft law to lower excise tax on petrol fuels, saying rising
budget revenues allowed such a move. The finance ministry has
rejected such step.
                                
 Pravda, page 17
                                
 
                                
 Reuters has not verified the media reports, nor does it
vouch for their accuracy
                                
 
                                
 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>
 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]