Bratislava  - A decade after Slovakia set out to abandon its reputation of a thuggish post-communist backwater the country is only weeks away from crowning its new image of central Europe's economic tiger.

Slovakia is making the last preparations to switch to the euro on January 1 in a feat for the country of 5 million whose recent history serves as a blueprint for economic success.

Bratislava - Slovakia's inflation declined for the second time this year as the central European country prepares to switch to the euro on January 1, government data showed Thursday.

The annual inflation rate fell to 4.9 per cent in November, from 5.1 per cent the previous month and the 2008 peak of 5.4 per cent recorded in September, the Slovak Statistical Office said.

Consumer prices had climbed since January when the indicator stood at 3.8 per cent, the data showed.

Bratislava - Slovakia, which adopts the euro on January 1, slashed its borrowing costs Tuesday to match the European Central Bank's (ECB) latest cut, the country's central bank said.

The Slovak National Bank slashed the key two-week repo rate by three quarters of a percentage point to 2.5 per cent in line with the ECB's dramatic cut on December 4.

Slovakia's benchmark rate has stood at 4.25 per cent since April 2007 until October this year when the country began matching the ECB's cuts aimed at boosting the eurozone's sliding economy.

Budapest  - The Hungarian government on Thursday called it "regrettable" that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico had rejected a package of measures aimed at improving diplomatic relations offered by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.

On the same day, former Slovak prime minister Mikulas Dzurinda blamed both governments for fomenting ethnic nationalist sentiment.

"Hungary does not understand, and regrets the response, but will implement its own recommendations regardless of the Slovak position," government spokeswoman Bernadett Budai said on Thursday. She noted that Hungary has yet to receive official notification of Fico's position.

Bratislava - The Slovak economy slowed down to 7 per cent in the third quarter of 2008, the weakest annual growth in three years, but remained strong as the
15-member eurozone plunged into recession, revised government data showed Thursday.

The annual gross domestic product (GDP) slowed from a revised 7.9 per cent in the second quarter, the Slovak Statistical Office said.

While the GDP fell by more than half from the record 14.3 per cent posted in the last three months of 2007, Slovakia still outpaced its central European neighbours in the July-September period.

Vienna  - Budget carrier SkyEurope reported Friday that its net loss for its business year running until the end of September more than doubled to 59.4 million euros
(77 million dollars), as results were affected by high fuel prices.

The company defaulted on an aircraft lease earlier this week and has to repay loans worth 25 million euros to US investor York Global Finance, one of its major stakeholders, by December 15.

As of September 30, the budget carrier's cash reserves amounted to 1.3 million euros, down from 11.6 million euros in 2007, SkyEurope said in its preliminary annual report.

The airline is listed on the Vienna stock exchange but operates from the Slovak capital Bratislava.