Thousands of jobs in Slovakia could be threaten by border controls

Even though a terrorist attack in Slovakia isn't very likely to happen, the indirect economic consequences connected to stricter conditions around the world due to terrorist threats might become a very negative factor, Sberbank Europe chief analyst Vladimir Vano said on Thursday.

"Tens of thousands of jobs in Slovakia depend on real time supplies of inputs. These could be threatened by measures that would restrict the crossing of borders and companies' supplies. The cost of exports might increase by between 1-3 percent. This might also influence the competitiveness of many Slovak companies," the TABLET.TV quoted Vano as saying.

Low oil prices and practically zero inflation within the European Union (EU) will probably persist even in 2016.

"We have to count on a drop in the prices of commodities such as steel, which is already threatening even the largest producers. An escalation of geopolitical tensions is also a risk to entrepreneurial and consumer confidence indicators," said Vano, adding that a similar situation happened in 2014 when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine undermined entrepreneurial confidence indicators and thus economic growth in the eurozone.

The latest mid-term prediction of the Slovak central bank is 3.1-percent growth in GDP (gross domestic product) in 2016, which would be 0.2 percent lower year-on-year. The reason for this is a significant slowdown in investments related to the end of program period for drawing EU funds. Endit