PRAGUE, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - European economic sanctions against Russia and Moscow's countermeasures have caused Slovakia's economic growth forecast for 2015 to decrease from 3 percent to 2.6 percent of the GDP, Slovakia's Finance Minister Peter Kazimir said Thursday.
"The decrease in the economic growth forecast for 2015 to 2.6% is caused by the situation with our key partners, this is the indirect effect of sanctions," Kazimir said at a press conference in Bratislava.
Early this summer, the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic stated that the economic growth in 2015 would reach 3 percent.
Minister Kazimir still feels optimistic about his country's economic perspectives, as in 2013 the economic growth amounted to only 0.9 percent. However, the level of unemployment remains relatively high, standing at 13.5 percent.
Slovakian leaders, including the country's Prime Minister Rober Fico have repeatedly warned that the European sanctions against Moscow may negatively affect the economy of the EU member states. Earlier in September, Slovakia called on the European Union to put off imposing new sanctions against Russia.
