Slovak Banks Adopt Pre-Election Promise of Ruling Smer Party

Slovak banks have implemented a pre-election pledge made by the ruling Smer-SD party, though specific details of the adopted promise were not elaborated. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenický continued to downplay the significance of Slovakia's recent credit rating downgrade by S&P Global Ratings, arguing that the impact is limited since S&P had previously rated Slovakia more favorably than competing agencies Fitch and Moody's. Even after the downgrade, Slovakia maintains the sixth-highest rating from S&P, while Fitch and Moody's rank the country seventh in their respective rating systems. The minister's comments come as the government faces scrutiny over the country's fiscal position and economic outlook following the rating agency's decision to lower Slovakia's creditworthiness assessment.