Bratislava- The centre-left government of Slovak Prime Minister Robert

Bratislava  - The Slovak Statistical Office confirmed Tuesday that the Slovak economy slowed down to 8.7 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2008 compared to a record 14.3 per cent in the previous quarter.

Real wages grew 6.2 per cent in the first three months of 2008, the statisticians said.

The average monthly salary reached 20,443 Slovak koruny (1,287 dollars) in the first quarter, in nominal terms a hike of 10.4 per cent year-on-year.

The unemployment rate was 10.5 per cent in the first three months of 2008, up from 10.3 per cent in the previous quarter but one percentage point down from the same period the previous year.

Bratislava  - Slovakia's central bank kept its key interest rate steady Tuesday, leaving it just above eurozone levels as the ex- communist nation prepares to adopt the euro on January 1.

The benchmark two-week repo rate stayed at 4.25 per cent, its level since April 2007. The European Central Bank's key lending rate is 4 per cent.

Slovakia is awaiting formal approval by EU governments to become the eurozone's 16th member and the first from the former Soviet bloc.

The ECB this month cleared Slovakia to use the euro but expressed concern that authorities keep inflation under control, making it difficult to trim interest rates for now.

Bratislava  - One Slovak miner was killed and another seriously injured in a mine cave-in in eastern Slovakia, officials said Wednesday.

Bratislava - When European officials rule in early May on Slovakia's request to switch t