KDH: NBS Growth Forecast Confirms Government Economic Failure

Bratislava, 23 June (TASR) - The latest forecast by the Slovak Central Bank (NBS), which revised its 2026 GDP growth outlook down to just 0.5 percent, confirms the current government's economic failure, according to the opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH). The party said on Tuesday that the pro-growth measures promised by the Economy Ministry's are not working and that the country risks prolonged economic stagnation. Rastislav Kratky (KDH), vice-chair of the House Committee for Economic Affairs, said the central bank's latest report directly underlined the warnings repeatedly voiced by KDH. "The NBS forecast is a sober confirmation of our warnings. In the eyes of the central bank, Economy Minister Denisa Sakova's pro-growth measures amount to little more than an election leaflet that is incapable of kick-starting economic growth," the MP warned. Kratky added that the measures have not yet been enshrined in law and that the government continues to delay their implementation. "Their effects will not be immediate in any case, and the economy already urgently needs a stimulus," he said. KDH considers it particularly critical that, according to the latest figures, even the country's highest state institutions are losing confidence in the government's economic policy. "It is alarming that even the governor of the central bank, a former Smer-SD minister, does not believe Robert Fico's government can genuinely revive the economy. This is also reflected in the reduction of the 2026 GDP growth outlook to 0.5 percent," Kratky said. According to KDH, the government must immediately change its approach to the business environment or Slovakia will permanently lose ground to its regional partners. "Instead of using marketing to conceal its failures, the government must finally launch real investment projects and stop suffocating the middle class and the economy. Slovakia is rapidly falling in competitiveness rankings, and the price of this government's incompetence will be several years of stagnation while neighbouring countries continue to pull further ahead," Kratky added. Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD), citing forecasts by the NBS and the International Monetary Fund, expects Slovakia's GDP to grow by at least 1.5 percent next year, significantly above the growth expected this year. The NBS has forecast GDP growth of 0.5 percent in 2026. According to the central bank, this should help slow the pace of growth in general government debt relative to GDP. Kamenicky also noted that although Slovakia has one of the highest inflation rates in the European Union, at just under 4 percent, household inflation is effectively around one percentage point lower thanks to government energy-support measures. mf/mcs