OECD praises Slovak economy for growing twice as fast as EU average

OECD appreciated Slovak economy for growing twice as fast as EU average, but the country still has challenges ahead to deal with, including in health care and in tackling regional disparities, announced OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria at the end of his visit here on Saturday.

"Looking at Slovakia's GDP growth, it's at 3.6 percent annually. This is roughly twice as much as the EU average and 1.5-times the U.S. growth pace. The unemployment rate, 10.6 percent, is at the seven-year low, while the fiscal situation is progressing well and the public deficit is decreasing toward balanced accounts in 2018," said Gurria.

However, there're still challenges for the country in health care and education, in reducing long-term unemployment and dealing with regional disparities.

The Slovak Government has asked for assistance of OECD experts in drawing up action plans to be carried out in underdeveloped districts, mainly in the Eastern Slovakia.

Gurria noted that Slovakia isn't the only country in the region facing this problem.

Paying attention to the high rate of long-term unemployment in Slovakia, he said people with low qualifications need to be given training to be able to respond to a technologically more advanced labor market. Endit