RESTRICTED
ORGANIZACI ÓNMUNDIAL WT/BOP/R/15
7dejuliode1996
DEL COMERCIO(96-2687)
Comité deRestricciones porBalanza dePagos
INFORME SOBRE LACONSULTA DE1996 CON
LAREPÚBLICA ESLOVACA
1. ElComité deRestricciones porBalanza dePagos delaOMC celebró consultas conlaRepública
Eslovaca losdías24y25dejunio de1996. Lasconsultas sellevaron acabobajolapresidencia del
Sr.P.Witt(Alemania) y,conforme almandato delComité, deconformidad conelpárrafo 4b)del
artículo XIIdelGATT de1994 yelEntendimiento relativo alasdisposiciones delGATT de1994
enmateria debalanza depagos. Deconformidad conelpárrafo 2delartículo XVdelGATT de1994,
seinvitó alFondo Monetario Internacional aparticipar enlasconsultas.
2. ElComité tuvoantesílossiguientes documentos:
Documento básico presentado porlaRepública Eslovaca WT/BOP/12
Documento deinformación preparado porlaSecretaría WT/BOP/W/12
FMI, Slovak Republic: Selected Background Issues, defecha 15deagosto de1995, y
Supplementary Background Material fortheWTO, 30demayo de1996
Declaración preliminar delrepresentante delaRepública Eslovaca
3. Ladeclaración preliminar delrepresentante delaRepública Eslovaca figura enelanexo I.*
Declaración delrepresentante delFondo Monetario Internacional
4. Ladeclaración formulada porelrepresentante delFondo Monetario Internacional figura en
elanexo II.*
Debate enelComité
i) Posición yperspectivas delabalanza depagos: otras medidas posibles pararestablecer el
equilibrio
5. Losmiembros delComité observaron que,peseahaber bajado ligeramente enlosprimeros
meses de1996, elnivel delasreservas seguía siendo satisfactorio, después dehaber crecido casial
doble entre finales de1994 y1995. Eldeterioro delabalanza comercial eraantetodoimputable a
factores norecurrentes ydebía considerarse unaanomalía temporal quenoerailustrativa delatendencia.
LosmiembrosdelComitérecordaronque,segúnlodispuestoenelpárrafo2delartículoXII,lasmedidas
nodebían exceder deloslímites necesarios "para oponerse alaamenaza inminente deunadisminución
importante delasreservas monetarias odetener dicha disminución". Unmiembro señaló queelaumento
*Inglés solamente.WT/BOP/R/15
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delasimportaciones constituía unfenómeno natural enelcontexto delcrecimiento ylaliberalización
delaeconomía.
ii) Sistema, métodos yefectos delasrestricciones
6. LosMiembros recordaron quedesde queempezó aaplicarse elrecargo en1994, Eslovaquia
nohabía llevado alapráctica suintención expresa desuprimir elrecargo paraelfinalde1994 ni,
como elComité lepidiódurante lasconsultas de1995, parael30dejuniode1996. Aunque lareducción
delrecargo del10al7,5porciento conefecto apartir del1ºdejuliode1996sevaloró positivamente,
estehecho noconvertía enrealidad laintención manifestada anteriormente porelGobierno dereducir
elrecargo demanera progresiva al7,5porciento afinales de1995, al5porciento apartir del1ºde
juliode1996, yal3porciento alpartir del1ºdeoctubre, parasuprimirlo definitivamente afinales
de1996. Setomó notadequeelrecargo únicamente seaplicaba al13porciento delasimportaciones,
ydequeesasimportaciones noeranlasquehabían originado eldéficit quearrojaba labalanza comercial;
además, según elinforme elaborado porlaSecretaría paraelexamen delaspolíticas comerciales de
laRepública Eslovaca endiciembre de1995, elrecargo teníaunefecto proteccionista sobre lasindustrias
debienes deconsumo.
iii) Respuestas delrepresentante deEslovaquia
7. Elrepresentante deEslovaquia agradeció alComité suvaloración positiva delaevolución que
había experimentado laeconomía eslovaca desde laconsulta anterior. Elrepresentante observó que
elComité había pedido claramente queseaboliera elrecargo alaimportación, basándose, entre otras
cosas, enlasconsideraciones depolítica financiera queelrepresentante delFMIhabía destacado en
sudeclaración. Elrepresentante insistió enqueEslovaquia había sidounadelasprimeras economías
entransición quehabía establecido desde elprincipio lasestructuras deunaeconomía demercado y
pusoderelieve queseestaba otorgando prioridad alaspolíticas orientadas alaexportación. Trasevocar
sudeclaración inicial sobre lainversión delatendencia delabalanza depagos ylaevolución general
delproceso detransformación, elrepresentante reiteró laintención desuGobierno dellevar acabo
unarevaluación delatasadelrecargo alaimportación alaluzdelasituación quesubsiste afinales
de1996.
8. Trasmantener nuevas consultas consuGobierno, elrepresentante delaRepública Eslovaca
distribuyó unacartadelMinistro deFinanzas, enlaqueseindicaba queelrecargo sesuprimiría con
efecto apartir del1ºdeenero de1997. ElComité acogió conbeneplácito estanovedad.
Conclusiones
9. ElComité reconoció loslogros conseguidos enelplano macroeconómico porEslovaquia
desde 1994 y,enparticular, laimportante mejora delosresultados económicos registrada en1994
y1995. ElComité observó que,sibienenlosúltimos meses sehabía asistido aundeterioro dela
balanza comercial ydelabalanza porcuenta corriente, esedeterioro podía atribuirse aalgunos factores
norecurrentes, alaslimitaciones delacapacidad enlossectores deexportación yalafuerte demanda
deimportaciones resultante delcrecimiento económico ydelareestructuración. ElComité tomó nota
dequelasituación general delasreservas había mejorado considerablemente en1995 ysehabía
mantenido almismo nivel durante loscinco primeros meses de1996.
10. ElComité señaló queEslovaquia venía aplicando elrecargo alaimportación desde 1994 y
que,apesar delamejora delaposición desusreservas, nohabía cumplido loscompromisos quehabían
asumido anteriormente conlaOMC. ElComité recordó unavezmásquelasmedidas enmateria de
balanza depagos debían serdecarácter temporal yquenodebían utilizarse parafinesfiscales ode
protección. ElComité expresó sugrave preocupación anteelusocontinuado delrecargo alaWT/BOP/R/15
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importación. Además, declaró suobjeción alaaplicación delrecargo demanera selectiva. ElComité
tomó notadeladeclaración delFMIenelsentido deque"sivaacompañada delestablecimiento de
impuestos quecausen menos distorsión, esimprobable quelaeliminación gradual delrecargo comporte
problemas importantes paraelpresupuesto".
11. ElComité llegó alaconclusión dequenoexistía unaamenaza inminente dedisminución
importante delasreservas monetarias deEslovaquia. Asujuicio, elrecargo alaimportación nopodía
justificarse mediante lasdisposiciones delGATT de1994enmateria debalanza depagos ydebía, por
tanto, suprimirse. ElComité acogió conbeneplácito ladecisión delGobierno deEslovaquia, defecha
25dejunio de1996, porlaqueéstesehacomprometido asuprimir elrecargo conefecto apartir
del1ºdeenero de1997 y,simultáneamente, arenunciar alainvocación delasdisposiciones del
artículo XIIdelGATT de1994.WT/BOP/R/15
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ANNEX I
Statement bytheRepresentative ofSlovakia
Itisagreat honour andprivilege formetohavethisopportunity totakethefloorforthefirst
timeonbehalf oftheSlovak Republic onconsultations intheWTO Committee onBalance ofPayments
Restrictions.
Before thestartofmyintroductory statement Iwould liketoapologize forthelatesubmission
ofthebasicdocument. Thisfacthasbeencaused mainly byanticipated reversed developments insome
macro-economic indicators requesting careful consideration, onwhich Iwould liketoelaborate later
oninamore detailed fashion.
Now, letmefocus onmacroeconomic development registered fromthelastconsultations held
inJulylastyear. Slovak realGDP grew by7.4percentin1995, ledmainly bycontinuing growth
ofexports aswellasbydomestic demand. ThisGDP growth inthesecond consecutive year, while
showing theelements ofrecovery, should behowever, taken inthebroader context ofitssharp decline
inprevious years. Inrealterms itmeans thatincomparison with1989 GDP reached 89%which is
still11%lower level. Thisclearly indicates complexity andcontroversy oftheoverall transformation
process inoureconomy. Although predictions ofGDPdevelopment in1996arenotindicating serious
reversed trend, thelevelof1989 willnotbereached yet.Inflation ratewasfurther consolidated and
inthefirstquarter ofthisyearreached onmonthly basisof6.2%. Some stabilization trend isregistered
alsoinunemployment rate,which ishowever stillmore than12%.
State budget development in1995 hasimproved, butstilladeficit amounting to8.3billion
Slovak crowns wasrecorded. Current figures which areshowing adeficit of4.4billion Slovak crowns
confirm toalarge extent theexisting continuing trend. Nevertheless, Government policy inthisarea
isaimed totighten financial flows andtaxdiscipline asapartofmodifying financial policy from
restrictive toanexpansionary onewithstabilization anddevelopment features. Current taxation level
isinthiscontext considered asutmost.
Main objectives oftheanti-inflationary monetary policy oftheNational Bank ofSlovakia were
thefurther support ofinternal andexternal stability ofthemonetary development under theexisting
economic conditions intheSlovak Republic andsupport oftherealGDP growth. Slovakia had
introduced convertibility ofthenational currency oncurrent account under Article VIIIoftheIMF
Agreements on1October 1995. Atthesame timetheclearing agreement withtheCzech Republic
wasdismantled. TheNBS monetary programme for1996 includes features similar tothose of
programmes fortheyears 1993-1995. Toachieve these goals theNBShasemployed mainly indirect
instruments, withtheaimtoapply boththeexchange rateandinterest ratepolicies aswellassecurities
transactions andthecreation ofaprudent financial environment through banking supervision.
Current account ofthebalance ofpayments istoaconsiderable extent determined bythe
development ofthetradebalance. Thepercentage ofthemerchandise turnover fromthewhole turnover
ofthecurrent account was78%in1995. Afavourable development oftheforeign trade in1994
deteriorated later -during theyear1995. Atendency ofthegrowth ofimports wasmore dynamic
thanofexports. Thementioned trend wasfullymanifested inthefirstquarter oftheyear1996when
theexport stagnated anditsvolume wasapproximately onthelevel ofthefirstquarter ofthe1995
andtheimport increased bynearly 31%. Thestagnating export isaresult ofthestructural barriers
oftheSlovak economy. Thechange ofthisphenomenon requests fortherestructuring oftheeconomy
which isconnected withhugeinvestments. These investments influence theimport ofmachinery and
technology. While intheyears 1994 and1995 thebearer ofthedynamic GDP growth wasdrivenWT/BOP/R/15
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predominantly byexports, intheyear1996thispartwastaken overbytheinvestments andthedomestic
demand. Bothfactors required strongly claims toimport fromabroad. theincrease ofimports which
isdetermined bythegrowth ofthedomestic demand would besignificantly higher without theimport
surcharge.
Thebalance ofservices hadakeyposition inthebalancing ofthecurrent account intheformer
period. Ontheother hand, tendency ofthefaster growth ofimports overexports wasmanifested in
theareaofthebalance ofservices too. Thisphenomena wasthereason thatthesurplus ofbalance
ofservices cannot fullycover adeficit inthetrade balance atpresent.
Development ofthetrade balance andthebalance ofservices isaprincipal determinant ofa
passive balance ofthecurrent account. Thecurrent account deficit was9.4percentoftheGDP in
thefirstquarter of1996. Inthesame period of1995 asurplus ofabout 4.3percentoftheGDP was
generated. Thistendency inthecurrent account development willcontinue alsointhenextmonths
of1996. Capital andfinancial account plays animportant roleinthefinancing ofthecurrent account.
Thedeficit ofthecurrent account intheSlovak Republic tends tobefinanced withtheforeign credits
tothebusinesses.
Theprediction ofoverall balance fortheyear1996isbased ontheprinciple thattheborrowing
through theproject financing willbecovering current account deficit while maintaining alevelofforeign
exchange reserves oftheNational Bank ofSlovakia -equal to3month 'simports oftradeandservices.
Iftheimports continued togrow further andthedeficit ofthecurrent account deepened, theexpected
inflow ofcapital would notbesatisfactory andtheNBSwould havetotakesteps anddraw foreign
credits.
TheSlovak economy hasanopenandliberal traderegime which isfurther supported byvaluable
commitments intheUruguay Round andGSPscheme. Inaddition, Slovakia hasnotapplied todate
anysafeguard orantidumping measures. Moreover, non-tariff measures arebeing applied onafew
products only.
Restructuring process intheSlovak economy hasmade progress, however, itsdynamism is
notsatisfactory anditisstillnegatively influenced byprevious patterns inindustry. Export performance
depends extensively onseveral dominant companies, which areproducing mostly semi-finished products
orproducts withlowvalue added. Export share ofthese companies iscurrently unfavourably high
amounting to44%. Thissituation isachallenge fortheindustrial andtrade policy oftheSlovak
Government which isreflected initspriority programme inthisarea. Intheshort term period
restructuring process willleadtoatemporary decrease inexport dynamism onthecontrary tothe
expected growth ofimports which would consequently deteriorate theoverall trade balance of
developments withimpacts tobalance ofpayments position.
TheSlovak Government feelstobebound byitsinternational commitments foractive and
effective cooperation withothercountries. Reversed developments insome keyelements ofthebalance
ofpayments andoftrade balance inparticular have ledtheGovernment tocareful andcomplex
consideration ofthepossible impact ofphasing outtheimport surcharge on30June1996. Inthis
context andinthecontext ofadopted conclusions atthelastconsultations theSlovak Government was
notinaposition toabolish theimport surcharge completely, however, itadopted acommitment to
reduce itsrateto7.5%. Further re-evaluation oftherateapplied independence withtheactual situation
inspecific macro-economic results ofthisyearwillbecarried outthoroughly.WT/BOP/R/15
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Finally, Iwould liketothank youMr.Chairman anddistinguished representatives foryour
kindattention. Iwishtoexpress mystrong belief thatwilltakeintoyouresteemed consideration an
explanation ofoureconomic situation initscomplexity, thatwillbereflected inthefinalconclusions
oftheCommittee.WT/BOP/R/15
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ANNEX II
Statement bytheIMFRepresentative
Overthe12months sincethelastConsultation oftheWTO Committee, Slovakia hascontinued
withtheliberalization ofitsbalance ofpayments transactions, bothinthecurrent andcapital accounts.
Significantly, onOctober 1,1995 theauthorities accepted theobligations ofArticle VIIIunder the
Fund'sArticles ofAgreement, signalling fullconvertibility ofthecurrent account. Slovakia continues,
however, toavailitself ofa10percentimport surcharge onconsumer goods.
Sinceitsindependencein1993,theSlovakRepublichasmadesignificantprogressinitseconomic
management andperformance. Growth hasbeenstrong andinflation hasfallen steadily, supported
bytightfiscalpoliciesandcontinuingenterpriserestructuring.Thebalanceofpaymentsalsostrengthened
through 1995. However, since thebeginning ofthisyearseveral favourable trends havesubsided,
andinsome cases reversed. Theprecautionary stand-by arrangement, which wasapproved bythe
Executive Board oftheIMFinJuly1994, expired inMarch 1996. AnArticle IVconsultation mission
isscheduled tovisitBratislava inOctober 1996.
Overview ofEconomic Developments
In1994 theSlovak economy initiated arecovery afterseveral years ofsteep decline. Real
GDP roseby5percent, ledbyagrowth ofover20percentinexports. Inflation fellfrom 25per
centatend-1993 tolessthan12percentatend-1994. Theexternal current account improved bymore
than10percentage points ofGDP, toasurplus equivalent toalmost 6percentofGDP, andofficial
foreign exchange reserves rosetotheequivalent ofover3months ofimports ofgoods andservices
fromabout 1month atend-1993. Thisperformance wassupported byatightfiscal policy--the fiscal
deficit declined to1.3percentofGDP from over7percentin1993.
GDP growth accelerated further in1995 to7.4percent,withdomestic demand replacing net
exports asthemainsource ofgrowth. Theexternal current account again registered asurplus, equivalent
to3.8percentofGDP, which together withasurplus inthecapital account ledtoafurther increase
ofUS$1.7 billion inforeign currency reserves, bringing them toalevelequivalent to4.4months of
imports ofgoods andservices. Inflation continued todecline, reaching 7.2percentbytheendof
theyear,oneofthelowest intransition economies. Fiscal consolidation continued, leading toasurplus
inthegeneral government accounts of0.6percentofGDP. Ontheother hand, theauthorities allowed
alooser monetary stance thanin1994; rapid expansion ofcredits toenterprises together withthenon-
sterilized external surplus caused broad money togrow byover20percent.
Themain development sofarin1996 isanunexpectedly large andrapid turnaround inthe
external current account. Inthefirstquarter of1996, thecurrent account registered adeficit ofabout
US$430 million orover8percentofGDPonanannual basis(compared tosurpluses ofUS$175 million
inthefirstquarter of1995andUS$650 million forall1995) reflecting mainly continued highimport
growth while exports stagnated. Infact,thedeterioration ofthecurrent account isdueinparttoone-off
factors--imports ofmilitary equipment, astock adjustment aftertheelimination ofcustoms duties on
small carsinlate1995, theeffects onthefuelimport billoftheparticularly longwinter, anextraordinary
stoppage ofamajor petrochemical company --fortechnical control purposes, andtheabolition ofthe
payments agreement withtheCzech Republic. Butother factors, suchastheweakening offoreign
demand andexport prices andcapacity constraints insome exporting sectors, arebehind thecontinued
deceleration ofexport growth; andthepersistently highgrowth ofimports appears tobelinked to
thebuoyancy ofdomestic demand andtheexpansionary monetary policy.WT/BOP/R/15
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Thedevelopments inthecurrent account ofthebalance ofpayments andotherindicators suggest
thattheeconomy isgrowing atthesame highpaceasin1995, andthatgrowth isledmainly byprivate
consumption andinvestment. Confirming thestrength ofdomestic demand, retail salesandindustrial
production grew byabout 9percentinrealterms through thefirstquarter of1996.
Preliminary dataforthefirstfourmonths of1996point tocontinued fiscal tightness. Money
andcredit toenterprises, ontheother hand, continue toexpand atveryhighrates(23and17percent
respectively inthe12-months toend-May 1996). Thestable exchange rate,which hasenabled demand
tospilloverintotheexternal accounts, together withexcess capacity inthenon-tradeables sector, may
explain whyinflation hascontinued todecline, reaching 6percentinApril 1996, inspiteofthelooser
monetary stance.
Afirstwave ofstructural reform, including price andfinancial liberalization, andamass
privatization programme tookplacebefore independence. TheSlovak Republic hasgradually continued
withthisprocess, albeit atanuneven pace. Privatization andprivate sector development haveledto
over60percentofGDP being produced intheprivate sector in1995, compared toonlyonethird
in1992. Enterprise restructuring hasenabled Slovak industry tocompete inforeign markets andto
increase itsexports totheEuropean Union. Butdifficult reforms which arestillpending, including
restructuring ofthebanking andenergy sectors andfurther privatization, arecrucial tosustain the
progress thathasbeenachieved.
Theexchange andtrade system
Thepayment agreement withtheCzech Republic, thatwasineffect fromFebruary 1993, was
abolished onSeptember 30,1995 justprior toaccepting theobligations ofArticle VIII, Sections 2,3
and4under theFund'sArticles ofAgreement.
Slovakia hasasubstantially liberalized trade system. Itmaintains anAssociation Agreement
withtheEU,freetrade agreements withVisegrad andEFTA countries, andafewcustom union with
Czech Republic. Import andexport licenses arerequired foronlyafewitems, andtheaverage import
tariff isrelatively low(6percentonanunweighted basis). Moreover, theSlovak authorities are
gradually removing many oftheremaining trade restrictions. Forexample, inlate1995, thecustoms
dutyonimports ofsmall cars(under 1,500 cc)wasremoved.
However, Slovakia continues tomaintain a10percentimport surcharge onconsumer goods,
which wasimposed inMarch 1994 todealwithatemporary deterioration oftheexternal accounts.
Theauthorities havedelayed theelimination ofthesurcharge, which wasoriginally intended totake
place byend-1994, mainly because ofbalance ofpayments concerns. In1995, theyconsidered phasing
outthesurcharge inviewoftheirstrong balance ofpayments position, butdecided tokeepitinplace
because oftheuncertain effects ofthechanges intheclearing system withtheCzech Republic.
Initsconsultations withSlovakia, theFundhasurged theauthorities tophase outthesurcharge.
Moreover, theFund continues tomaintain thatfinancial policies, rather thantheimport surcharge,
arethemostappropriate tooltorespond tobalance ofpayments imbalances. Ifaccompanied bythe
introduction oflessdistortionary taxes, phasing outofthesurcharge isunlikely tocreate major problems
inthebudget, given Slovakia 'sstrong fiscal position. TheFund urges theauthorities tobegin reducing
thesurcharge onaclearandspecific timetable withaviewtoeliminating italtogether promptly, and
totighten financial policies inparallel, toavoid adverse effects onthebalance ofpayments.WT/BOP/R/15
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Toconclude, theSlovak authorities havemade important progress inthetransition toamarket
economy. Tighter financial policies andfurther structural adjustment areneeded toconsolidate these
achievements, andtoensure amore robust external position. TheFund regrets theSlovak authorities '
decision nottophase outtheimport surcharge in1995 when thesituation wasespecially propitious.
Iturges theauthorities toreconsider theirdecision bybeginning tophase outthesurcharge immediately
withaviewtoitsprompt elimination.