* PM Fico says euro will help economic recovery
* PM says sticks to budget reduction targets
* Euro zone and EU should be ready to aid Greece
By Martin Santa and Jan Lopatka
BRATISLAVA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Adoption of the euro did not hurt Slovakia as it ploughs through the country's deepest crisis since becoming independent in 1993, and will speed up economic recovery, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Friday.
Fico told Reuters in an interview the country's public finances finished 2009 in better shape than previously expected, and pledged to stick to a target of slashing the gap this year.
The central European country of 5.4 million slipped into a full-year contraction of 4.7 percent in 2009 as foreign demand in western Europe dropped, a deeper drop than the Czech Republic or Poland which have seen benefits from weakening of their freely floating currencies in the crisis.
Slovakia joined the euro zone in January 2009 with a strong exchange rate, which has put pressure competitiveness but given Slovaks higher buying power.
The inflexibility of the euro underscores risks of an early jump into the single currency area, but Fico said the overall impact throughout the economic crisis was not negative.
"The euro's influence on the economy, in the time of the crisis, was neutral or slightly positive," Fico said.
"The euro can, in the future, turn into an extraordinarily important factor when investors will decide which country is attractive for their new investments," he said.
Slovakia may emerge as one of the European Union's fastest growing members this year, with central bank predicting the economy to rise by 3.1 percent.
Fico said that despite the deep economic drop, the public finances deficit ended up better than the 6.3 percent of gross domestic product predicted in the latest government estimate.
He said the government would stick to its budget consolidation plan, which sees a 5.5 percent deficit this year and a drop to 3 percent in 2012, a year earlier than prescribed by the EU.
"It seems that the development of public finances in 2009 was better than expected," Fico said. He did not give an exact number.
"We want to consolidate, we want to have this year's fiscal deficit below the 2009 level... this is our strategic goal," he said.
He said the next government, which he is likely to lead given his leftist SMER party enjoys a large lead in opinion polls ahead of a June 12 election, would consider capping public debt by amending the constitution.
Such a plan has been floated in the country's annual stability report filed to Brussels, and Fico said it could be a major policy initiative after the election.
Slovakia has one of the lowest debt burdens in the euro zone, below 40 percent of GDP. Fico did not say what the cap might be.
Fico said the Greek debt crisis had not hurt Slovakia so far, although the country's debt spreads over German Bunds have widened to about 100 basis points.
He said Greece must take tough action to rein in its debt but added that the euro zone and the European Union -- rather than an external agency -- should stand ready to provide or at least coordinate financial aid if needed.