UniCredit raised mortgage interest rates by half a percentage point. Three weeks ago, it cut them to an all-time low of 0.59%. Other banks have not yet raised their official interest rates. Analysts do not expect significant rate hikes for mortgages or consumer loans, as ECB rates remain low and funding plentiful. Banks, however, only provide mortgages for up to 60% of real estate value, as they expect prices to fall. (dennikN.sk)

Retail sales were 14% higher annually in the third week of March, according to data of Nielsen. The growth pace slowed down compared to the second week. Drugstores even posted a 60% surge in sales in the second week in March, before stagnating under an annual comparison in the third week. (hnonline.sk)

Maloobchodné tržby v treťom marcovom týždni boli medziročne o 14% vyššie, ukazujú dáta firmy Nielsen. Tempo rastu v porovnaní s druhým marcovým týždňom kleslo. Drogérie v druhom marcovom týždni zaznamenali 60% medziročný rast tržieb, v treťom týždni už boli na vlaňajšej úrovni. (hnonline.sk)

UniCredit zvýšil úroky na hypotéky minimálne o pol percentuálneho bodu. Pred tromi týždňami ich znížil na historické minimum 0,59%. Ostatné banky zatiaľ oficiálne úrokové sadzby nemenia. Analytici výrazné zdražovanie hypoték alebo spotrebných úverov neočakávajú, zdroje ECB ostávajú lacné. Banky ale poskytujú hypotéky iba na 60% hodnoty nehnuteľnosti, keďže očakávajú pokles cien. (dennikN.sk)

The coalition called on companies to avoid layoffs and adopted seven measures to support jobs: the state will reimburse 80% of wages to companies that were ordered to close due to the pandemic; it will provide €180-540 a month to sole traders and SMEs for every employee, based on their drop in sales (20-80%; a company can get €0.2m monthly at the most); bank guarantees totaling €500m a month; quarantined workers and those taking care of kids will get 55% of their gross wage;

Banks VÚB, Tatra banka, UniCredit, ČSOB and Prima banka imposed restrictions in lending on corporations and individuals last week and other banks are expected to follow suit. VÚB has extended the deadline for signing loan documents to 90 days and is refusing to provide mortgages to businesses in the hotel, restaurant, tourism, retail and financial services segments. Prima banka will not provide loans to sole traders and people with an income from abroad. All banks view the in

Banky VÚB, Tatra banka, ČSOB, UniCredit a Prima banka minulý týždeň zaviedli reštrikcie pri poskytovaní nových úverov firmám aj občanom. Zvyšné banky zrejme budú postupovať rovnako. VÚB napr. predĺžila lehotu na podpis dokumentov na 90 dní a odmieta poskytnúť hypotéku podnikateľom zo segmentu hotely, reštaurácie, cestovný ruch, maloobchod a finančné služby. Prima banka neposkytne úver živnostníkom a ľuďom s príjmom zo zahraničia. Všetky banky oveľa prísnejšie posudzujú príjmy

Koalícia vyzvala firmy, aby neprepúšťali a prijala sedem opatrení: štát uhradí 80% platu zamestnanca vo firmách, ktorých prevádzky sú povinne uzavreté; poskytne živnostníkom a zamestnancom 180-540 € mesačne podľa tempa poklesu tržieb (20-80%; firma môže dostať maximálne 0,2 mil. € mesačne); záruky na bankové úvery vo výške 500 mil. € mesačne; zamestnanci v karanténe a OČR dostanú 55% z hrubej mzdy; firmy s viac ako 40% prepadom tržieb získajú odklad platieb odvodov aj preddav

Energy distributor SSE expects a temporary 30% drop in electricity consumption amid the shutdown of much of Slovakia’s industrial capacity. Energy suppliers are facing a challenge―no demand for electricity they purchased under long contracts some time ago. As a result, power prices at the Slovak spot market have fallen recently from €50 per MWh to around €20 and even turned negative last Sunday. The surplus electricity is often purchased on the cheap by producers who now need

Slovakia is among the last countries in the region to announce measures in support of employment during the pandemic. Economy Minister Richard Sulík (SaS) wants to present the first 50 measures “as soon as possible." He discussed the measures with business lobby groups on Thursday. The measures helping companies with cash flow and keeping employment should be financed by EU funds. PM Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) repeated that the government won’t provide blanket help to all troubled