Governor, Central Bank of Slovakia Ivan Sramko of Slovakia

Mr Sramko is an inflation hawk and will add his voice to a policy that.

PRAGUE, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A slight rise in the 2009 Slovak public sector deficit to 2 percent of gross domestic product would not be a problem if it helps the economy, central bank Governor Ivan Sramko said on Tuesday.

Sramko was upbeat about Slovakia's switch to the euro amid the financial.

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Slovak inflation should start falling in the coming period, central bank chief Ivan Sramko said on Tuesday.

Prague - Slovak central bank governor Ivan Sramko said Tuesday the global financial crisis would reduce economic growth and may widen budget gaps in Slovakia, which is to become the 16th country to adopt the euro on January 1.

Speaking to reporters at a conference in Prague, Sramko said a slight increase up to 2 per cent would be permissible depending on how the funds would be used.

Sramko was upbeat about Slovakia's switch to the euro amid the financial meltdown that plunged the eurozone into recession.

Governor Ivan Sramko said on Tuesday.

PRAGUE (Thomson Financial) - The pace of the Slovak crown's strengthening has surprised the central bank, the bank's governor Ivan Sramko was quoted as saying in an interview with Slovak newspaper Pravda published on Monday.

Sramko said the strong currency can help fight price growth but can also harm industry and the central European country's economic growth.

However, it unfavourably affects exporters' returns, cuts economic growth and could have a negative impact on state budget income,' Sramko was quoted as saying.

Sramko joined the central bank from his post as a board member of Tatra Banka, Slovakia's third largest bank and a unit of Austria's Raiffeisen Bank.

Before the unit was irrevocably fixed to the euro in July 2009, Sramko said the exchange rate had a minor impact on inflation and cautioned about the negative effect of too strong a currency on the economy, which the market viewed as a sign he was against an overly strong conversion rate for the euro switchover.

chances of switching to the euro ``have never been better.

Sramko said the budget deficit will hold below 2.

Mr Sramko says he has no fear that the economy is overheating.

The demand for reforms was often also driven by that," country's central bank Governor Ivan Sramko said at a recent economic conference.

I don't have a comment on this, as you know we've regularly declined to comment on the rate," Sramko said when asked about Fico's remarks.