ZHODNOTENIE VÝVOJA VZŤAHOV SLOVENSKEJ EKONOMIKY SO ZAHRANIČÍM V ROKU 2006

As Slovakia is a small open economy, its success depends to a great extent on development of its external economic relations. In 2006, the Slovak Republic recorded balance-of-payments deficit for the second time since the split of the Czechoslovak Federation. At the beginning, this article analyses the development of the balance of the payment's main components compared with the data from the previous periods. The second part of the paper deals with foreign trade including its territorial and commodity structure, as well as openness of the Slovak economy in international comparison. The following part analyzes the foreign capital movements. Particular attention is given to foreign direct investment inflows into the country, regarding both its regional structure and comparison of FDI inflows with the other new EU member states. The conclusion focuses on expected development in 2007 that indicates positive trends in the external economic relations of Slovakia.