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.

Brussels - The European Union has approved a revaluation of the Slovak national currency, the koruna, by almost 18 per cent, shortly before EU member states are set to decide on whether or not Slovakia should join the euro next year.

Following a request from the Slovak government, the ministers of the 15 countries which currently use the euro, plus officials from Denmark, the Baltic states and the European Central Bank, agreed to revalue the koruna upwards by 17.65 per cent, a statement from the European Commission said late Wednesday-early Thursday.

The new, strengthened rate of the koruna to the euro, which is allowed to fluctuate by 15 per cent, is 30.126 koruna per euro, the statement said.

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 - The Slovak economy slowed down in the first quarter of 2008 to 8.7 per cent year-on-year from a record 14.3 per cent the previous quarter, according to government's preliminary data re

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

Bratislava - Slovakia's admission into the euro club crowned a post-communist boom and marked a historic shift that its leaders say will further boost the economy, currently paced by Asian and Euro