HIGHLIGHTS-Central bankers, Almunia at Bratislava conference

BRATISLAVA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Following are highlights of comments by European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico and Finance Minister Jan Pociatek and ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny at a conference to mark Slovakia's planned entry to the euro zone in January 2009.

For a text of Trichet's speech, go to here

* NOWOTNY

GROWTH:

"For the year 2009, all of Europe will suffer lower growth."

"There is no doubt that these huge and dramatic events in the financial sector will have an effect not only in the United States but also in Europe."

MARKETS:

"Just now we see that in a situation of big turmoil in the financial world, the euro area has managed to be a source of stability."

INFLATION:

"What we see now is that the rate of inflation has peaked probably in the August of this year.

"As a member of the ECB I have to stress it is going down but it is above the goal of the European Central Bank."

* TRICHET ON FINANCIAL MARKETS AND U.S. RESCUE PLAN:

"I would say that, as you could see, central banks are acting and ... appropriate decisions were taken in the supply of liquidity in our various currencies in order to be up to the exceptional period that we have. We have care, particularly in the ECB, for our money markets to be functioning with rates, as close as possible ... to our policy rates.

"Policy rates themselves are designed to deliver price stability over the medium term.