Slovakia has its worst rating in 20 years

Slovakia has its worst rating in the past 20 years, and improving it requires accelerating fiscal consolidation and competitiveness and enhancing the quality of institutions, according to the fiscal responsibility council RRZ. Joining the EU and NATO, adopting the euro, reforms, investment inflows, and growing investor confidence previously improved the rating, but later governments focused only on increasing social benefits, and the Slovak rating became below average within the EU. Recent tax hikes did not reduce the fiscal deficit, worsened policy predictability and attractiveness for investors, and the coalition is working on dismantling institutions. Eurozone membership thus remains the only bright spot. (

RRZ)