The presidential office says Ivan Gasparovic, who is visiting Indonesia and the Philippines, is expected to come back on Thursday, not on Saturday as originally scheduled.
Mr Gasparovic will dismiss prime minister Iveta Radicova and her coalition government after they lost a confidence vote on Tuesday due to a rebellion against the EU fund from a coalition partner.
Mr Gasparovic could also name a new premier. Early elections are an option if approved by Parliament.
Slovakia’s leaders earlier pledged to rescue the key euro bailout bill, which was rejected by parliament, triggering the collapse of the government and threatening Europe-wide efforts to ease the debt crisis threatening the world’s economy
Late last night the outgoing prime minister, Iveta Radicova, and her main opponent said they would work to approve the bill quickly.
The agreement to talk came shortly after parliament voted against the expanded euro bailout fund – a vote Ms Radicova had tied to a confidence measure.
Parliament is due to convene again tomorrow, but it is not clear when another vote might be held.
The eyes of officials and investors around the world are on the small central European country, because expanding the fund requires the approval of all 17 countries that use the euro. Sixteen countries have already approved and now Slovakia – with a population of 5.5 million people – holds in its hands the fate of a measure that will affect all Europe, and by extension, the global economy.
“We decided that we have to do it as soon as possible,” Ms Radicova said after announcing her party would hold talks with the primary opposition party, led by former prime minister Robert Fico.
He took much the same line, saying: “Slovakia has to approve the fund.”
Mr Fico and his party had always supported expanding the fund expansion in principle, but said it would vote Yes only if the government agreed to call early elections.
Although approval of the measure seems likely, the drama and brinkmanship highlighted what has become a major issue in Europe’s debt saga: In a system where unanimity is required, even small countries wield great power.
Because major eurozone policies need the approval of all 17 countries that use the currency, Slovakia’s vote – the last – carried immense weight. For weeks it appeared certain it would reject boosting the bailout fund, unnerving financial markets and threatening the future of Europe’s plans to fight the crisis.
Experts said EU officials could possibly find a way around a Slovakian rejection of the bill to boost the powers and size of the bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, or ESFS, but that doing so would carry costs to European unity.
In the longer term, the drama seems sure to add momentum to the push for nimbler rules to govern the 17-country eurozone, where government reaction to the unfolding crisis has seemed for many months to be behind the curve.
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