Based in Paris, BNP Paribas' Economic Research Department is composed of economists and statisticians:
The Economic Research department’s mission is to cater to the economic research needs of the clients, business lines and functions of BNP Paribas. Our team of economists and statisticians covers a large number of advanced, developing and emerging countries, the real economy, financial markets and banking. As we foster the sharing of our research output with anyone who is interested in the economic situation or who needs insight into specific economic issues, this website presents our analysis, videos and podcasts.
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All growth drivers weakened in the second quarter of 2022. With a high exposure to Russia for its oil and gas supplies, Slovakia could be amongst the most affected Central European countries by the consequences of the war in Ukraine. The steep rise in energy costs, as well as supply disruptions, will have an adverse impact on industrial activity, which has not yet returned to its pre-Covid level. Moreover, inflation has increased rapidly but is still more moderate compared to other countries in the region. Finally, public and external accounts will deteriorate in the short term, but this situation remains manageable.
Economic growth remained very dynamic until the first quarter of this year. Strong wages growth and significant government measures to back up purchasing power over this period have supported consumer spending. Inflation rose sharply in recent months but remained lower compared to other Central European countries, due to a price cap on certain food and energy related goods. Economic growth is expected to slow down significantly in 2023, owing to the deterioration in the international environment, monetary and fiscal tightening from H2 2022. The temporary suspension of European funds presents a serious challenge given that budget and current account deficits have increased and external liquidity has eroded.
The last two quarters have been marked by slower growth in economic activity. This is mainly attributed to weaker levels of consumer spending. Furthermore, the country is still very exposed to supply chain disruptions in the automotive sector to a great extent, which adversely impacts both industrial activity and exports. The expected slowdown in the global economy in 2022 will also affect growth given the country’s high exposure to trade. Inflation has probably not yet peaked, which means that monetary tightening is likely to continue in the short term.
Over the past few weeks, Central Europe has experienced a spike in Government bond yields. Five-year yields have surged respectively by 338 bp in Poland, 331 bp in Hungary, 350 bp in Romania and 216 bp in Czech Republic since January 2022 and are at present similar to 2008 levels. The trend is also the same for 10-year yields. The recent move can be explained to some extent by markets’ overreaction as regards to the relatively high exposure of Central European countries to Russia in terms of exports and energy supply. Moreover, their geographical proximity with Ukraine and Russia have contributed to markets’ perception of higher geopolitical risk. In the meantime, monetary policy tightening, a consequence of higher inflationary pressures (respectively +16
