Slovakia - Factors To Watch on May 16

                                
 BRATISLAVA, May 16 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press
reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial
markets on Friday.
                                
 
                                
 SRAMKO AT EURO CONFERENCE
                                
 Central bank governor Ivan Sramko will address a euro
adoption conference, 0800 GMT.
                                
 
                                
 C.BANK RESERVES
                                
 The central bank will publish weekly foreign currency
reserves data, 1200 GMT.
                                
 
                                
 SMER BOARD MEETING
                                
 The executive board of Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer
party will meet in the central Slovak town of Krupina to debate
current political issues, 1800 GMT.
                                
 
                                
 PM SAYS ECONOMY CAN COPE WITH STRONGER CROWN
                                
 The Slovak economy can cope with a stronger currency, Prime
Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday, driving the crown to a
new record amid preparations to negotiate the rate for swaping
crowns for euros next year.
                                
 [ID:nL15935385] [RTRS-MMT-FRX-EUR-SK]
                                
 
                                
 CROWN HITS NEW RECORD AFTER PM COMMENTS
                                
 The Slovak crown rose to an all-time high on Thursday for
the seventh consecutive session, after Prime Minister Robert
Fico said the economy could cope with more currency gains.
                                
 [ID:nL15796939] [RTRS-MMT-FRX-EUR-SK]
                                
 
                                
 Q1 GDP BEATS FORECASTS, APRIL INFLATION UP
                                
 Slovak economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2008,
data showed on Thursday, but the annual expansion of 8.7 was
faster than expected thanks to strong exports and household
spending.
                                
 [ID:nL15898900] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-PLCY-SK]
                                
 
                                
 APRIL EU-NORM CPI ABOVE FCAST
                                
 Slovak EU-norm consumer prices rose by 0.3 percent on the
month in April, putting the annual inflation rate at 3.7
percent, the Slovak Statistics Office said on Thursday .
                                
 [ID:nL15142629] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-SK]
                                
 
                                
 C.BANK: APRIL EU-NORM INFLATION ABOVE FCAST
                                
 Slovakia's annual EU-norm inflation accelerated slightly
above the central bank's forecast in April, mainly due to a
faster-than-expected increase in food prices, the central bank
(NBS) said on Thursday.
                                
 [ID:nBSD000068] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-CEN-SK]
                                
 
                                
 PRESS DIGEST
                                
 ------------
                                
 HUNGARIAN PARTY ROW
                                
 The internal row within the ethnic Hungarian SMK party is
intensifying as the leader Pal Csaky continues to clash with
some senior officials, including former Chairman Bela Bular.
Csaky said Bugar had ties to Oskar Vilagi, the CEO of refiner
Slovanft.
                                
 Sme, page 1
                                
 
                                
 WHIRLPOOL SLOVAKIA
                                
 Whirlpool Slovakia, a unit of the world's biggest appliance
company Whirlpool Corp. <WHR.N>, said it expected revenues of 10
billion crowns ($490 million) in 2008, compared with an
estimated 12 billion crowns in 2007.
                                
 Sme, page 6
                                
 
                                
 BORDER CONTROLS
                                
 Austria will introduce temporary controls at borders with
Slovakia between June 2 and July 1 due to the European soccer
Championship.
                                
 Pravda, page 4
                                
 
                                
 AXA SLOVAKIA LOSS
                                
 The private pension fund Axa Slovakia, a unit of Axa
<AXAF.PA>, reported a loss of 133.4 million crowns for 2007.
                                
 Sme, page 8
                                
 
                                
 LABOUR MARKET TIGHTENING
                                
 Slovakia faces a risk of running out of workers in a
five-year period, the Bratislava-based Institute for Employment
said.
                                
 Sme, page 7
                                
 
                                
 SHIN HEUNG PLANT
                                
 South Korean Shin Heung Precision, one of key suppliers of
Sony <6758.T> and Samsung Electronics <005930.KS>, said it
planned to invest 200 million crowns to build a plant in
Slovakia.
                                
 Hospodarske Noviny, page 11
                                
 
                                
 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
                                
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