Slovakia posts surprise Feb trade gap,rebound seen

...showed on Wednesday, but analysts expect a 
rebound in the coming months. 
    The Statistics Office said the trade gap was 2.05 billion 
crowns ($82.55 million) in February, compared with a revised 
4.88 billion crown surplus in the previous month. 
    But it was well below a 10.41 billion crown shortfall in 
February 2006. The market had expected a surplus of 2 billion 
crowns. 
    "Exports maintain quite solid dynamics. The trade figures 
will improve in the future as new capacities in the car sector 
go on line," said Silvia Cechovicova, analyst at CSOB Bank. 
    Car output growth, the key engine of the Slovak economy, 
slowed to 103 percent year-on-year in February from a record 
rise of 127 percent in the previous month. 
    Slovakia's trade balance deteriorated last year mainly due 
to equipment imports for new car plants of PSA Peugeot Citroen 
 and Kia Motors . 
    But the new facilities are expected to boost exports as 
their output will rise in the coming months. Analysts expect 
Slovakia's external deficit to narrow to about 30 billion crowns 
in 2007 from 93 billion last year. 
    The data pushed the crown currency slightly weaker. The unit 
traded at 33.370 per euro as of 0800 GMT, compared with 33.350 
before the release .