Slovakia - Factors To Watch on April 10

                                
 BRATISLAVA, April 10 (Reuters) - Here are news stories,
press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak
financial markets on Thursday.
                                
 
                                
 EU TREATY
                                
 Parliamentary parties will meet to discuss vote on the
European Union's reform treaty, 0800 GMT. Deputies are expected
to vote on the treaty on Thursday or Friday.
                                
 
                                
 PENSION SYSTEM
                                
 Prime Minister Robert Fico will address a seminar on the
pension system, 0800 GMT
                                
 
                                
 CBANKER ON HEALTHCARE
                                
 Central bank Vice-governor Martin Barto and Deputy Finance
Minister Frantisek Palko will address a conference on healthcare
financing, 0700 GMT.
                                
 
                                
 QUESTION HOUR
                                
 Prime Minister Robert Fico and government minister will
answer queries from deputies during a regular question hour in
parliament, 1200 GMT.
                                
 
                                
 SMK ON LISBON TREATY
                                
 The opposition ethnic Hungarian SMK party will hold a news
conference on its stance on the EU treaty. 0930 GMT.
                                
 
                                
 MPS PASS MEDIA LAW, SET CLASH OVER EU TREATY
                                
 Slovak government deputies  approved a disputed media law on
Wednesday, ignoring protests from newspapers and human rights
watchdogs and setting the stage for a clash with the opposition
over the EU's reform treaty.
                                
 [ID:nL09918268] [RTRS-DIP-POL-PUB-SK]
                                
 
                                
 GOVT CUTS FISCAL GAPS TO BOOST EURO CHANCES
                                
 The Slovak government approved on Wednesday a plan to cut
the 2008 public finance deficit to 2.0 percent of GDP from an
originally targeted 2.3 percent to boost chances of adopting the
euro next year.
                                
 [ID:nL09858525] [RTRS-GVD-DBT-EUR-SK]
                                
 
                                
 FEB RETAIL SALES RECORD STRONG, WAGES UP
                                
 Slovak retail sales rose by a record 16.6 percent
year-on-year in February, data showed on Wednesday, but analysts
saw no danger of Slovakia failing to breach the inflation
threshold for planned 2009 euro adoption.
                                
 [ID:nL09377633] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-RET-SK]
                                
 [ID:nBSD000056]
                                
 [ID:nL0935593]
                                
 
                                
 PRESS DIGEST
                                
 ------------ 
                                
 SMK ON LISBON TREATY
                                
 The opposition SMK party has signaled it might vote with the
government on the EU's Lisbon Treaty, as party leader Pal Csaky
said minor changes to the disputed media bill have met some of
opposition demands.
                                
 Sme, page 2
                                
 
                                
 WORLD BANK LOANS
                                
 Slovakia will no longer apply for loans provided by the
World Bank, and will instead become a creditor for development
programmes. The World Bank is expected to assign Slovakia the
status of a developed economy.
                                
 Sme, page 9
                                
 
                                
 Reuters has not verified the media reports, nor does it
vouch for their accuracy
                                
 
                                
 News editor of the day: Peter Laca, +421 2 5341 8402; fax
+421 2 5341 8403
                                
 E-mail: editorial@reuters.sk
                                
 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]