Banks 9 billion richer
The Slovak banking sector is not resting on its laurels this year. In the first 6 months all 24 banks together took in 9,3 billion Crowns, a 15 percent increase over last year.
The results of the financial institutions owe a lot to the continuing building boom and its resultant demand for mortgages, but the consumer loan segment is also buoyant. "The volume of credits provided to clients, in comparison with the first half of 2006 grew by 30 percent," Miriam Fuňová, spokesperson for Slovak Savings Bank (Slovensáj sporiteľna(, confirmed. She added that the greatest rise is in residential loans.
Good news for the banks is that this borrowing trend is continuing to rise. The debt load of Slovaks is still low in comparison with other European countries, and despite the current strong growth of the economy, the ratio of borrowing to the total gross domestic product for next year is forecast at under 7 percent. In contrast, Eurozone countries devote 40 percent of their GDP to financing housing. In this country, banks have the capacity to loan clients 400 billion, but we are using roughly half of this potential.
August 1 (tabulku zalomime na 2x, je prdana k clanku)
Fight for patients beginning
At a time when the state seems to be choking its hospitals, private capital is beginning to found new polyclinics in Slovakia. While the state remains in debt due to its obligation to finance unprofitable beds in health facilities, investors are counting their future profits. They are planning to concentrate rather on health care which avoids losses -- specialist clinics, simple operations, laboratory and diagnostic services. "We are not worrying about this project, and we believe it will be successful", affirmed Penta financial group spokesperson Martin Danko. Penta itself, through its Procare subsidiary, is building 12 new polyclinics, the first of these in Košice.
These new polyclinics are however causing major problems for the directors of hospitals and existing polyclinics. They are going to be faced not only with a loss of patients, but also of doctors and nurses. "Private centres will manage to give their patients more because they will be skimming off the cream. Hospitals cannot do this. Hospitals must perform other services which the private facilities do not do", Director of the A. Winter hospital in Piešťany, Peter Ottinger, told HN. August 1
What new polyclinics offer (factbox)
-- will operate on the principle of registered clients
-- will be connected through an information system
-- in the case of need, a registered client may be examined throughout the network
- regular care is to be cost-free
- patients will be able to book appointments at given times
Minister Kašický knows the cost of war
If it becomes necessary to protect the country from an enemy, this will not be without cost. The men who are drafted will be called up in the case of war or other crisis situations and will be paid for their service. Defence Minister František Kašický (Smer-SD) and his ministry are proposing that non-professional soldiers receive rank payment or bonuses for performing special services. The updated Act on Armed Duties is to be presented to Government tomorrow.
The pay of these recruits will be derived from the incomes of the professional army -- its amount will depend on rank. On average this would come out at over 32,000 Crowns. Soňa Baniarová from the Defence Ministry press section defended this step by recalling that the SR Constitution "guarantees the right to compensation for work performed, and a soldier in special service is performing work to the benefit of the state". She noted that such issues have never before been legally settled. Military expert Jozef Pivarči welcomes the decision by the ministry. "It should have been settled long ago." The amount of salary, which would exceed the average wage in the national economy, is in order according to his viewpoint -- when risk and direct danger to life are taken into account.