Slovakia - Factors To Watch on Dec 4

    BRATISLAVA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press 
reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial 
markets on Monday. 
     
    REGULATOR NEWS CONFERENCE 
    The state regulator for utilitites will hold a news 
conference on energy prices in 2007 (0830 GMT). 
     
    SDKU NEWS CONFERENCE 
     Former Finance Minister Ivan Miklos of the strongest 
opposition party SDKU will hold a news conference on the state 
budget draft (1415 GMT). 
     
    ELECTRICITY PRICES TO STAY FLAT IN 2007 
    Slovak households will be spared any electricity price rises 
in 2007, the regulator said on Friday, a move that will boost 
the new EU state's chances of meeting the inflation condition 
for adopting the euro in two years. 
    [ID:nL01790508] [RTRS-MCE-ELG-SK] 
     
    VOLKSWAGEN BOOSTS OUTPUT IN SLOVAKIA, REACHES CAP 
    Europe's biggest car maker Volkswagen AG has increased car 
production by around 20,000 at its Slovak plant to 240,000 this 
year, boosting Slovakia's export performance, the plant's chief 
said on Friday. 
    [ID:nL01911292] [RTRS-AUT-EMRG-SK] 
     
    CROWN NEAR RECORD PEAK VS EURO, SEEN WEAKER 
    The Slovak crown <EURSKK=> edged up slightly against the 
euro in Friday trade, hovering in sight of this week's record 
highs, and dealers expected investors to cut exposure modestly 
in the near term. 
    [ID:nL01485964] [RTRS-MMT-FRX-SK-LEN] 
     
    BUDGET GAP NARROWS THANKS TO STRONG ECONOMY 
    The Slovak budget deficit narrowed to a fraction of the 
full-year target in January to November, data showed on Friday, 
and analysts expected record economic growth to help the country 
keep the shortfall in check. 
    [ID:nL01877995] [RTRS-GVD-DBT-SK] 
     
    BUDGET GAP NARROWS IN JAN-NOV 
    The Slovak central state budget showed a deficit of 6.98 
billion crowns ($259.4 million) in the January-November period, 
compared with a 7.55 billion deficit for the same period in 
2005, the finance ministry said on Friday. 
    [ID:nL01715354] [RTRS-GVD-DBT-SL-LEN] 
     
    C.BANK FOREX RESERVES RISE TO $13.4 BLN 
    The Slovak central bank's foreign currency reserves rose to 
$13.387 billion as of Nov. 29, up from $13.172 billion one week 
earlier, the bank said on Friday. 
    [ID:nL01296844] [RTRS-CEN-FRX-ECI-SK] 
     
    PRESS DIGEST 
    ------------ 
    C.BANK CRITICISES FICO FOR VICE-GOVERNOR 
    Central bank governor Ivan Sramko has criticised Prime 
Minister Robert Fico for delaying the nomination of a new 
vice-governor for monetary policy. The post has been vacant 
since March, and Sramko said the situation had negative impacts 
on the bank's operations. 
    Sme, page 1 
     
    SLOTA'S RECORD ERA AS MAYOR OVER 
    Jan Slota, the leader of the far-right Slovak Nationalist 
Party (SNS), was defeated in regional election and lost his 
mayor post in the city of Zilina after record 16-years. 
    Pravda, page 1 
     
    For an economic indicator diary for the euro zone, the ed 
States and other Group of Seven countries, see <G7TODAY>. For a 
diary of forthcoming Slovak events, double click [SK/DIARY], and 
for a calendar of east European economic indicators, see 
[CONV/DIARY]. 
     
    News editor of the day: Peter Laca on +421 2 5341 8402; fax: 
+421 2 5341 8403 
    E-mail: reuters@editorial.sk 
    Reuters Messaging: peter.laca.reuters.com@reuters.net 
     
 For real-time index quotes, double click in brackets: 
 Warsaw WIG20 <.WIG20>  Budapest BUX <.BUX>  Prague PX50 <.PX50> 
 Other related news: 
 Slovak equities      [SK-E]  E.Europe equities           [.CEE] 
 Slovak money         [SK-M]  Czech debt                  [CZ-D] 
 Slovak Indicators  [SK-ECI]  Emerging forex          [EMRG/FRX] 
 Eastern European     [EEU]   All emerging markets        [EMRG] 
 Hot stocks           [HOT]   Stock markets                [STX] 
 Market debt news     [DBT]   Forex news                   [FRX] 
 TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets                         [TOP/EMRG] 
 TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch                        [TOP/EAST] 
 ((Bratislava Newsroom; Email: editorial@reuters.sk; 
+421-905-602-847)) 
 ($1=27.49 Slovak Crown) 
 ($1=27.49 Slovak Crown) 
 ($1=26.95 Slovak Crown)