Slovak's national bank moved Tuesday to undercut the nation's rising currency by delivering a 25-basis points cut in interest rates, as a result becoming the second Central European country to reduce borrowing costs this week, according to dpa. Bratislava's monetary authorities lowered borrowing costs in the new European Union member states to 4.5 per cent, despite buoyant domestic demand powering Slovakia's economy to an 8.3 per cent growth rate last year. Interest rates in Slovakia, which hopes to join the euro in January 2009, have been held since late last year when the country's central bank raised the cost of money by 25 basis points. "Today's decision to lower interest rates should be seen in the light of the national bank's attempts to stop the Slovak koruna from appreciating further," said Stanislava Pravdava, analyst with Danske Bank in Copenhagen.
