Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)

Zsolt Gál: Argentina on the Danube - Populist Economic Policy as the Biggest Enemy of Sustainable Economic Growth

Argentina on the Danube...

cal industry, as ten largest exporters’ share on the country’s total exports reached 40.3%. In five out of ten largest exporters (three automobile producers and two producers of flat monitors), the export /turnover ratio exceeded 95%.

Table 2

Largest exporters in Slovakia, their share on the country’s total exports and their export/tumover ratio

Spoločnosť

Export (tisíc eur)

Zmena

(%)

2008/

07

Export/

tržby

2008, %

Podiel

na

exporte

SR

2008

2007

1. Volkswagen Slovakia, a.s., Bratislava

5 348 8856 394 630

-16,4

99,510,8 %

2. Samsung Electronics Slovakia, s.r.o. Galanta

3 523 1023 685 593

-4,4

1007,1 %

3. U.S. Steel Košice, s.r.o., Košice

2 376 5822 470 645

-3,8

81,14,8 %

4. Slovnaft, a.s., Bratislava

2 328 5312 177 271

6,9

57,74,7 %

5. Kia Motors Slovakia, s.r.o., Žilina

2 179 3321 763 987

23,5

97,84,4 %

6. PCA Slovakia, s.r.o., Trnava

1 718 5001 714 162

0,3

99,03.5 %

7. Sony Slovakia, s.r.o., Nitra *

1 398 000

968 364

44,4

1002,8 %

8. Mondi SCP, a.s., Ružomberok

393 569

448 064-12,2

83,10,8 %

9. Slovnaft Petrochemicals, s.r.o., Bratislava

355 666

449 225-20,8

55,60,7 %

10. Continental Matador Truck Tires, s.r.o., Puchov

350 797

317 879

10,4

89,70,7 %

Celkový export Slovenska

49 543 584

5,1

100 %

Note: The data have been converted from Slovak crowns into euro using the official conversion rate of 30.126 SKK/EUR, which is stronger than the actual average exchange rate for

2007 (33.781) and 2008 (31.291), which is why the featured data are slightly overvalued compared to actual export contracts. * The data on Sony Slovakia 's exports were not available; the featured data are based on an assumption that the export/turnover ratio was also 100%, which was the case of Samsung, the other electronic giant listed.

Source: Trend Special Top 200, July 2009; Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic 2009/a. Celkový dovoz a celkový vývoz podia kontinentov a ekonomických zoskupení krajín v roku

2008 [Total Imports and Total Exports by Continents and Economic Groupings in 2008] and author's own calculations.

Given this dependence on foreign consumers, it is plain to see that domestic fiscal incentives cannot possibly substitute the role of exports. In simpler terms, the Slovak Government cannot afford to purchase 600,000 cars and 9 million LCD TV sets instead of foreign consumers. On the other hand, once it begins to encourage domestic consumption through public spending, most money spent by Slovak consumers may well end up abroad; a good case in point was the scrap bonus (i.e. state subsidy designed to encourage consumers to replace old cars with new ones) introduced in 2009.'° Another reason for the failure of fiscal incentives was that contrary to recommendations of the Keynesian economic theory they were applied in the time of economic growth; besides, a significant proportion of total funds spent was literally frittered away on food (e.g. welfare benefits, wage increase, price subsidies) or channelled into the black hole of inefficient

191