BRATISLAVA, May 21 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press
reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial
markets on Wednesday.
MICROSOFT CEO VISIT
Microsoft <MSFT.O> Chief Executive Steve Ballmer visits
Slovakia. Ballmer will address a business conference at 1500
GMT.
GOVERNMENT MEETING
The government will hold a regular weekly meeting, 0800 GMT.
CROWN HITS NEW RECORD AGAIN, SEEN FIRMING
The Slovak crown continued its climb ahead of 2009 euro zone
entry, hitting a record 31.230 per euro on Tuesday as investors
bet policymakers would seek a strong conversion rate against the
single European currency.
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SLOVAKIA SEES MORE DECLINE IN JOBLESS RATE
Slovakia's jobless rate will drop to new lows in the near
future as the booming economy creates jobs and investors recruit
the long-term unemployed to tackle a workforce shortage, the
labour office said on Tuesday.
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ECONOMY CAN HANDLE STRONG CROWN -CBANKER
The Slovak economy can live with a strong conversion rate
for swapping the crown for the euro next year thanks to rising
productivity and efficiency, a central bank board member was
quoted on Tuesday as saying.
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C.BANK DRAINS SKK 151.3 BLN IN REPO TENDER
The Slovak central bank (NBS) accepted all bids in its
regular two-week repo tender on Tuesday, draining 151.304
billion crowns ($7.49 billion) from the market, NBS data showed.
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PRESS DIGEST
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CONVERSION RATE TALKS
Slovakia is holding talks with European Union authorities on
the conversion rate for the 2009 euro adoption. Finance Minister
Jan Pociatek is likely to echo Prime Minister Robert Fico's
desire for a strong conversion rate, and expectations of a high
switchover level are boosting the crown to record highs.
Hospodarske Noviny, page 1
FORGED SIGNATURES IN PARLIAMENT
Parliament speaker Pavol Paska said he would not investigate
whether a ruling coalition MP forged signatures of Jan Slota,
the leader of a government party SNS, to conceal his absences at
parliamentary sessions.
Sme, page 1
PENSION ROW
The social affairs ministry and pension funds continue to
clash over an information leaflet explaining the private pension
system. Fund managers complain the brochure contains misleading
data. The government has opened the private pension system to
lure people back to the state-run pay-as-you-go scheme.
Sme, page 6
PROPERTY RICES UP
Real estate prices rose by an annual 29 percent, in real
terms, in the first quarter of 2008. Most of the regions in
central and eastern Slovakia registered as high as 40-60 percent
rise in prices of flats and houses in the January-March period,
central bank data showed.
Pravda, page 18
U.S. DOLLAR UNDER 20 CROWNS
The U.S. dollar has weakened under 20 crowns for the first
time ever as the Slovak currency firms ahead of the expected
euro zone entry.
Pravda, page 18
NO MORE LAND ROWS
The parliament is debating a draft law changing rules for
the state-run land administration agency to prevent similar
controversial land transfers as those that had caused a
government crisis last year.
Sme, page 2
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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