BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovakia should take advantage of negative yields on its sovereign debt to invest in major public infrastructure projects, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday as campaigning for next month's general election heats up.
Yields in primary auctions of short-dated Slovak government bonds and secondary market yields on short- to mid-term maturities have been in negative territory during the last 11 months.
"If we enjoy such tremendous trust in the financial markets, why not gather huge financial means and start carrying out the tasks that await us?" said Fico, whose leftist party looks set to win on March 5 though it might lose its outright majority. last year for a 1.4 billion euro ($1.6 billion) factory.
Still, foreign investment has not benefitted the whole country equally, with western and central regions faring better that worse-off southern and eastern regions affected by high unemployment and inadequate highways.
Opinion polls show Smer well ahead of the next closest party, the newcomer centrist party Siet, but it may lack the votes to rule alone due to a shrinking double-digit lead.
Fico has highlighted the health of the economy during campaigning and his government has boosted welfare spending while sticking to EU budget deficit rules.