BRATISLAVA, Feb 13 (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. [ID:

In a pre-election speech at his Smer party’s convention, Fico said that if re-elected he would seek agreement with opposition parties to amend a constitutional law on budget responsibility that limits the public debt to 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and imposes sanctions when it exceeds 50 percent of GDP.

The finance ministry expects the central European country’s public debt to fall to 52.1 percent of GDP this year from last year’s 52.8 percent before falling to 51.3 percent in 2017 and 48.9 percent in 2018.

If those targets are reached, it would represent one of the lowest national debt burdens in the euro zone.

Following estimated growth of 3.6 percent last year, Slovakia’s economy is expected to expand by 3.2 percent in 2016 before accelerating to 3.6 percent in 2017 and then by more than 4.0 percent as new assembly lines at automotive plants begin operations in 2018/19.

The nation of 5.4 million is home to three car plants and is expecting a fourth to come online in 2018 after the government signed a deal with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) 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. (Reporting by Tatiana Jancarikova; Editing by Helen Popper)