The arrival of British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover in Slovakia may increase the country's overall GDP growth, according to the latest analysis of the Slovak central bank (NBS) published on Thursday.

On the other hand, certain risks for the country's economy are presented by possible oil price developments and uncertainty surrounding the sales of Volkswagen (VW) cars in the United States, the analysis said.

"While Volkswagen's overall sales in the USA in October were at the same level as last year, the emissions problem resulted in a 25-percent cut in sales year-on-year in November," noted NBS.

Although Slovakia's VW plant's direct exposure vis-a-vis the United States is relatively low, the factory is likely to suffer via its parent company in Germany.

"If exports of VW's Slovak plant to the USA were reduced by 25 percent next year, it would affect the plant in terms of a 2.7-percent decline in production and a drop in the country's GDP of 0.1 percentage points," the analysis of NBS concluded. Enditem

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