SUMMARY-Friday-April 3, 2020 - 5 p.m.

BRATISLAVA - 'Shutting Slovakia down', as proposed by Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO), would bring nothing positive, and the Slovak economy would go absolutely under, head of the opposition and far-right People's Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) Marian Kotleba stated on Friday. BRATISLAVA - Bank clients will be able to apply for the deferral of loan-payment instalments by a maximum of nine months during the coronavirus pandemic, and banks will be obliged to agree to this under the specified conditions and won't record these clients as defaulters, said Prime Minister Igor Matovic and Finance Minister Eduard Heger (both OLaNO) on Friday concerning an agreement reached with banks. BRATISLAVA - Some employers and self-employed people will be able to defer mandatory payments to social-insurance funds, contributions to old-age pension savings and advanced payments to health-insurance funds for March of this year, as Parliament approved an amendment to the Social Insurance Act via a fast-track procedure with 118 votes on Friday. BRATISLAVA - Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) stated on Friday that 24 new cases of coronavirus were registered in the country on Thursday, bringing the total number of infected people to 450, while laboratories tested 1,454 samples. BRATISLAVA - Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) stated on Friday that 24 new cases of coronavirus were registered in the country on Thursday, bringing the total number of infected people to 450, while laboratories tested 1,454 samples. BRATISLAVA - The deferral of loan instalments will help bank clients, stated the Slovak Banking Association (SBA) on Friday, adding that the Slovak banking sector is aware of its responsibility vis-a-vis people and that banks are sensibly perceiving and understanding the difficult situation in which their clients and the whole of society are currently in due to the coronavirus pandemic. BRATISLAVA - Economy Minister Richard Sulik (SaS) intends to keep alleviating the restrictions adopted due to coronavirus, and he aims to propose at the central crisis management team's session on Friday that car showrooms should be included on the list of shops and outlets that are allowed to open. BRUSSELS - The Council of the European Union on Friday appointed former Slovak foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak as its special representative for dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina and other regional issues in the Western Balkans. BRATISLAVA - Almost half of Slovaks have already felt the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey carried out by Ipsos agency on a sample of 1,003 respondents older than 18 between March 27-30. BRATISLAVA - During her meeting with the permanent crisis management team on Friday, President Zuzana Caputova appealed to its members to increase the protection of elderly people, victims of domestic violence and other vulnerable groups, the president's spokesman Martin Strizinec told TASR on the same day. bub