Ljubljana related

05 Feb 2019, 10:20 AM

STA, 4 February 2019 - Slovenia believes it can achieve sustainable public finances without having to hinder economic growth, the Finance Ministry told the European Commission on Monday, as it sent clarifications of its 2019 budgetary plans to Brussels.

The government sent to the Commission the draft supplementary budget for this year after it adopted it on 24 January.

However, last Friday the Commission requested clarifications about whether the 2019 budget plans were in line with EU rules.

In the document sent to Brussels today, the Finance Ministry said the government would carry on with activity designed to keep public finances sustainable, which would be done so as not to hinder economic growth.

The ministry explained that the fiscal rule had been the main guiding principle the government had taken into account in forming economic policies.

In doing so, it strived to preserve a nominal surplus, and consequently sustainable public finances in the medium term.

In this sense, Slovenia pursues an adequate ratio between the stability of public finances, and the care for its citizens and the country's development.

Slovenia will therefore continue with the activity designed to achieve long-term sustainability of public finances in line with the rules so that it does not hinder economic growth.

It will not lower expenses nor investments, but at least keep them at the current levels, at the same time facilitating a certain level of social security.

"For Slovenia, it is vital to preserve economic activity and raise productivity while keeping the general government debt at an adequate level."

In asking Slovenia to provide clarifications about its 2019 budget plans, Brussels acknowledged the planned surplus was to stand at 0.55% of GDP and that due to solid economic growth public debt was to drop to 66% of GDP by the end of the year.

But what worried it was the fact that the budget also envisaged a 4.5% nominal growth in public spending, which exceeds the recommended 3.1% growth ceiling.

The 0.55% of GDP figure refers to all public finances - the state budget, the health and pension purses and municipal budgets, whereas the surplus for the state budget alone is planned at 0.4% of the GDP.

Brussels said today it had received the Slovenian response, but would respond to it as part of the European semester winter package, expectedly at the end of the month.

04 Feb 2019, 10:20 AM

STA, 3 February 2019 - Out of more than 142,000 companies active in Slovenia in 2017, almost 95% were micro companies, and they employed more than a third of the total of 627,000 all employees in companies. Most of the revenue, over two-thirds, was generated by large companies, Statistics Office data shows.

Large companies employed 27.3%, medium-sized companies 19.1% and small companies 18.6% of all workers.

The exact number of companies active in 2017 was 142,574, of which 94.7% were micro companies, classified as entities with up to nine employees.

Small companies (with up to 49 employees) represented 4.3%, medium-sized companies (up to 249 employees) 0.8% and large companies (250 of more employees) 0.2% of all companies.

All Slovenian companies generated a total of EUR 96bn in revenue in 2017, of which 34.3% was generated by large companies, which were followed by medium-sized companies (23.2%), micro companies (21.8%) and small companies (20.7%).

Out of the total added value of EUR 23bn, 35.8% was generated by large companies, 23.5% by micro companies, 21.2% by medium-sized companies and 19.5% by small companies.

The largest share of sales revenues was generated by industrial companies (40%), which were also at the top in terms of the generated added value (43%).

The least sales revenues and added value sector-wise was generated by construction companies, 5% and 6%, respectively.

Industrial companies, which include mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas, steam and water supply, and waste water and waste management companies, increased sales revenues by 11% compared to 2016.

There were almost 20,000 companies in manufacturing in Slovenia in 2017, with sales revenues increasing the most in the motor vehicle segment (by 29%), and decreasing the most in the production of clothing (by 14%).

The data can be explored in more detail here

15 Jan 2019, 15:00 PM

STA, 12 January 2019 - The economic and financial crisis in Slovenia, which started in 2009, brought a significant growth of unemployment, with the number of the unemployed more than doubling to almost 130,000 at the beginning of 2014. The situation on the labour market has been improving lately, with shortage of certain staff actually becoming a problem.

The number of registered unemployed persons was up steeply in 2009 and peaked at the beginning of 2014 at almost 130,000, which was around double of that before the crisis.

It was in 2014 when the number finally started to decline, with the improvement on the labour market accelerating in 2016 and 2017 and continuing in 2018, with the number standing at 78,534 at the end of the year.

Projections for the coming years speak about an additional improvement, with the number of registered unemployed expected to drop to the pre-crisis level by 2021 barring major negative shocks.

Staff shortages are now a growing issue, along with unemployment among those aged 55+

There is a large number of structurally and long-term unemployed people in Slovenia and hard-to-employ people, whose activation requires additional active employment policy measures.

Given the circumstances, a large number of companies have already started reporting shortages of adequately trained staff, which is becoming a limiting factor in the implementation of their strategies.

The number of the active working population is also growing again, and the employment rate exceeded the pre-crisis level in 2017. The total number continued to increase in 2018 to reach 1.022 million in the third quarter, a 23-year record.

Although the total employment rate is somewhat higher than the EU average, Slovenia fares much worse when it comes to the employment rate in the 55-64 age category despite an improvement in recent years.

In 2017, it stood at 43% or 14 percentage points below the EU average. Slovenia is meanwhile recording better progress in the under-25 category, but its rate is still at roughly half of the EU average.

         Employment  Registered        Survey

         rate (%)    unemployment (%)  unemployment (%)

2008        73.0         6.7               4.4

2009        71.9         9.1               5.9

2010        70.3        10.7               7.2

2011        68.4        11.8               8.2

2012        68.3        12.0               8.9

2013        67.2        13.1              10.1

2014        67.7        13.1               9.7

2015        69.1        12.3               9.0

2016        70.1        11.2               8.0

2017        73.4         9.5               6.6

* The figures are annual averages

Source: Statistics Office, Employment Service

Pay in Slovenia after the crisis

Growth of wages slowed down in the crisis years and came to a stop in 2012 and 2013. Wages started to grow again noticeably only in 2017 and 2018, when the growth of gross wages exceeded 3%, with the trend expected to continue and grow even stronger in the coming years. Domestic and foreign macroeconomic analysts are stressing that the growth of wages will not significantly exceed the growth of productivity and undermine the competitiveness of the economy.

Data for the period as of 2008 also show that the growth of wages was higher in the private than in the public sector. While in the public sector the crisis was fought with lay-offs, there were no dismissals in the public sector, with the number of employees even increasing in certain activities. Civil servants did contribute their share by accepting austerity measures, which are only now being gradually abolished.

Related: Economic crisis that produced a "lost decade" in Slovenia

In the years after 2013, contributing significantly to the real purchasing power was a low inflation, which was noticeable again only in 2017 and last year, when it reached 1.4% according to preliminary estimates.

What also marked the crisis years was a raise of the minimum wage of more than 20% in 2010, which enraged the employers, who blamed the rise in the unemployment rate in the coming years on this measure. Trade unions were meanwhile noting that the minimum wage was still below the minimum costs of living and that all bonuses were calculated into it.

In the recent years, the minimum wage has been increasing more gradually, standing at EUR 843 gross last year. This year it will increase to EUR 886 and in 2020 to EUR 940 gross under the latest legislative changes, which also regulate the elimination of bonuses from the minimum wage as of 1 January 2020.

      Inflation (%)  Average net wage*      Average gross wage*

                     in EUR   growth in %   in EUR  growth in %

2008     2.1         899.8       7.8        1,391.4       8.2

2009     1.8         930.0       3.3        1,439.0       3.4

2010     1.9         966.6       3.9        1,494.9       3.9

2011     2.0         987.4       2.1        1,524.6       2.0

2012     2.7         991.4       0.4        1,525.5       0.0

2013     0.7         997.0       0.6        1,523.2       0.0

2014     0.2       1,005.4       0.8        1,540.2       1.1

2015    -0.5       1,013.2       0.8        1,555.9       1.0

2016     0.5       1,030.2       1.7        1,584.7       1.8

2017     1.7       1,062.0       3.1        1,627.0       2.7

* Annual average

Source: Statistics Office

Added value and productivity

In addition to the demographic trends, one of the key challenges for long-term development and economic competitiveness of Slovenia are growth in productivity and added value in the economy, to which growth of wages and well-being are tied. In this segment, the economic crisis brought stagnation and even a slight decline, while in comparison with the EU average, productivity in the Slovenian economy in 2018 was still lower than in the pre-crisis 2008.

Gross added value per employee was up in the 2008-2017 period, but is still well below the EU and eurozone averages, at 63% of the EU average and 57% of the eurozone average.

Related: Banks were at the center of the financial crisis in Slovenia

Increasing productivity and added value is a challenge both for the economy and economic policy. Businesses have set an ambitious goal of reaching EUR 60,000 in added value per employee, EUR 50bn in exports and an EUR 2,300 average wage by 2025, which is why they except measures from the state ranging from the tax police to the immigration policy.

Among the necessary measures both in the economy and institutions, they have pointed to measures for growth of investments in new production capacities and new technologies and digitalisation, a growth in investments in research and development, which as a share of GDP dropped from 2.6% in 2013 to 1.93% in 2017.

Labour productivity, % of EU average

       Per employee   Per hour worked

2008       83.5           83.8

2009       79.9           79.0

2010       79.4           78.2

2011       80.6           80.3

2012       80.0           79.8

2013       80.3           78.9

2014       81.2           78.9

2015       80.5           77.9

2016       80.5           79.7

2017       81.0           81.5

Source: Statistics Office

Gross value added, in EUR

      Per employee  EU average    Eurozone average

2008     34,759        55,079          61,492

2009     33,694        52,917          60,581

2010     34,107        55,506          62,638

2011     35,594        56,951          64,164

2012     34,854        58,247          64,834

2013     35,643        58,850          65,863

2014     36,893        60,247          66,991

2015     37,758        62,818          68,678

2016     39,091        62,418          69,398

2017     40,136        63,276          70,861

Source: Eurostat

All out stories on the Slovenian economy can be found here

15 Jan 2019, 10:20 AM

STA, 12 January 2019 - The global financial crisis, which erupted in 2008 with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, hit Slovenia with a delay, but it exposed huge weaknesses that had built up in the majority state-owned banking system. By 2012 Slovenia was locked out of financial market, and it took until the bank bailout in late 2013 before the sector recovered.

In the run-up to the crisis, credit growth was buoyant, driven by cheap money after interest rates collapsed following the changeover to the euro in 2007.

Loans to the non-banking sector surged by almost two-thirds between 2006 and 2008. Banks financed the expansion mostly by securing financing from foreign banks.

The crisis thoroughly razed the banking landscape.

Banks' total assets peaked at over EUR 50bn in 2010 before reaching a low of just 37bn six years later.

Related: Economic Crisis that Produced a “Lost Decade” in Slovenia

Similarly, lending contracted by more than a third between 2010 and 2016, as banks deleveraged to pay back their foreign loans rather than extend new loans to Slovenian businesses.

On the other hand, deposits remained robust as households responded to the crisis by tightening spending, which deepened the economic crisis but gave banks a lifeline when foreign financing dried up.

The total volume of loans slipped slightly during the crisis as households drew down their savings, going from EUR 23.9 bn in 2010 to EUR 22.4bn in 2013, but the contraction was never as severe as the tightening of lending.

Bank statistics

       Total assets     Loans to non-banking sector

          (in EUR m)       (in EUR m)

2006      34.1             20.6

2007      42.6             28.5

2008      47.9             33.7

2010      50.8             34.7

2013      40.3             24.3

2014      38.7             21.5

2016      37.1             20.5

2018*     38.3             22.2

* As of 31 October

Source: Slovenian central bank

A property bubble that burst in 2010

The credit explosion leading up to the crisis inflated a property bubble, which burst post-2010 as large construction companies that also financed their own projects collapsed one after the other, as did over-leveraged financial holdings.

The share of non-performing loans started to soar, forcing banks to set aside increasing provisions and writing down assets, leading to a negative spiral.

Whereas foreign-owned banks received capital injections from their shareholders, the three biggest banks in the country were all in state ownership, requiring growing amounts of public funds to keep them afloat.

Video: Slovenia's Economic Crisis, 2012

The story came to a head in December 2013, when the treasury spent EUR 3.5bn recapitalising NLB, NKBM and Abanka, wiping out shareholders and junior bondholders in the process. Two smaller banks, Probanka and Factor Banka, were wound down.

At the same time, about four billion euros in non-performing loans were transferred onto the newly-established Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC), which also absorbed the assets of Probanka and Factor Banka.

After the banking system was bailed out banks were flush with cash and largely freed of non-performing loans, but it took several years before lending recovered.

Bank performance

      Net profit       Net provisions, write-downs

         (in EUR m)       (in EUR m)

2008     208              -120

2009     162              -279

2010     -99              -811

2013   -3439             -3809

2014    -106              -650

2016     364               -96

2017     443                43

2018*    452                45

* As of 31 October

Source: Slovenian central bank

Lawsuits related to the period

Echoes of this period continue to reverberate five years later, as lawsuits by subordinated bondholders and shareholders wiped out in the bailout make their way through courts.

These investors have targeted in particular the valuations that determined the size of the bailout, alleging that Slovenia had been the target of speculators and a guinea pig for new EU bank resolution rules.

The commotion over the bailout resulted in criminal investigations at the central bank, the resignation of governor Boštjan Jazbec and, recently, criminal charges against the board of governors serving at the time of the bailout.

The costs of the bailout accounted for a significant chunk of the increase in general government debt during the crisis, which ballooned from 22% of GDP in 2008 to almost 84% of GDP by 2015.

The surging debt was accompanied by growing debt servicing costs, as the precarious state of the economy during the crisis led to higher borrowing costs; for a while, Slovenia was practically locked out of the eurobond market and had to borrow in US dollars.

Public debt did not start to decline until 2016, when the economic recovery was already in full swing. In the past two years the treasury has been busy replacing dollar debt with euro bonds and debt has started to decline at a more rapid pace towards the eurozone ceiling of 60% of GDP.

General government finances

      Deficit       Debt        Debt servicing costs

         (% of GDP)  (% of GDP)   (EUR m)

2008     -1.4         21.8         326.1

2009     -5.8         34.6         326.4

2010     -5.6         38.4         476.7

2011     -6.7         46.6         510.6

2012     -4.0         53.8         632.5

2013    -14.7         70.4         827.0

2014     -5.5         80.4        1082.6

2015     -2.8         82.6        1028.8

2016     -1.9         78.7        1064.0

2017     +0.1         74.1         977.3

Source: Eurostat, Statistics Office, Ministry of Finance

13 Jan 2019, 10:36 AM

STA, 12 January 2019 - Ten years ago Slovenia faced the onset of a major financial and economic turmoil and it was not until 2017 that the country's GDP returned to pre-crisis levels. However, even as some described the period as a lost decade, the economy has emerged from it healthier and more resilient to a potential new crisis.

 Related Video: Slovenia's economic problems, 2012

After a few years of rapid expansion peaking at 6.9% in 2007, Slovenia's economy contracted by 7.8% in 2009 in the wake of the outbreak of a global financial crisis in what was one of the biggest slumps in the EU, after those in the Baltic countries and Finland.

After minor upwards corrections in 2010 and 2011, faltering domestic private and state spending and fast-falling investment led to two more years of economic decline, which was exacerbated by a deterioration in the banking sector and the financial market's growing distrust of the country.

The crisis bottomed in the third quarter of 2013 and Slovenia's GDP has been increasing ever since, accelerating up to the annual rate of almost 5%. The growth is estimated to have proceeded at roughly the same pace in 2018, after which it is expected to slow down to about 3% in the coming years.

Despite the accelerated growth seen in the past few years, real GDP did not return to pre-crisis levels until 2017, which means that the country needed almost a decade to come back to the point it departed from at the end of 2008.

A major domestic factor deepening the crisis was a slump in investment, both corporate investment and housing construction and major investments in road and rail infrastructure after a strong growth in the pre-crisis years.

Between 2008 and 2013, the value of construction work was more than halved, before increasing in 2014 driven by completion of EU-subsidised projects, only to fall yet again. It was not until 2017 and 2018 that the sector saw more sustainable double-digit growth rates.

The collapse in the construction industry caused many construction companies to go bust, including giants such as SCT and Primorje. It also paved the way for new and so far minor players to make a breakthrough in the field.

Real GDP growth (%)   Real GDP per capita (EUR)

2008        3.3                  19,200
2009       -7.8                  17,500
2010        1.2                  17,700
2011        0.6                  17,800
2012       -2.7                  17,300
2013       -1.1                  17,000
2014        3.0                  17,500
2015        2.3                  17,900
2016        3.1                  18,500
2017        4.9                  19,400

* Reference year is 2010
     Final household  Gross capital  General government
     consumption      formation      final consumption
2008         2.6          7.0                4.9
2009         0.9        -22.0                2.4
2010         1.1        -13.3               -0.5
2011         0.0         -4.9               -0.7
2012        -2.4         -8.8               -2.2
2013        -4.2          3.2               -2.1
2014         1.9          1.0               -1.2
2015         2.3         -1.6                2.4
2016         4.0         -3.7                2.7
2017         1.9         10.7                0.5
      Value of construction work (%)   No. of construction jobs

2006              15.6                        72,810
2007              18.5                        82,140
2008              15.5                        92,140
2009             -21.0                        91,280
2010             -17.0                        82,970
2011             -24.8                        73,230
2012             -16.8                        67,700
2013             - 2.6                        62,960
2014              19.5                        62,290
2015             - 8.2                        62,550
2016             -17.7                        61,930
2017              17.7                        63,550

Source: Slovenia's Statistics Office, Eurostat

An even better indicator of the so-called lost decade is trends in GDP per capita and final individual consumption in purchasing power standards (PPS) as a percentage of EU, as two comparative indicators of a standard of living.

At the end of 2017 Slovenia trailed the pre-crisis level by both measures compared to the EU average. During that time, it has been overtaken by the Czech Republic among the new EU members, while Slovenia and the Baltic countries are catching up.

       GDP per capita in PPP
        (% of EU average)
2008          89.5
2009          85.1
2010          83.3
2011          83.0
2012          82.0
2013          81.6
2014          82.1
2015          81.8
2016          82.2
2017          84.0
     Final individual consumption in PPP
            (% of EU average)
2008	             80.2
2009	             79.9
2010	             80.5
2011	             80.8
2012	             80.4
2013	             78.1
2014	             77.2
2015	             76.5
2016	             77.3
2017	             77.2

Source: Eurostat

The crisis years and the post-crisis period have also produced some positive developments. The Slovenian economy has undergone a restructuring and boosted its competitive edge, so that exports recovered fast from the major contraction in 2009, and after an interim period of moderate growth, returned to strong growth in 2017. Exports at the end of 2018 are estimated to have outpaced those of 2008 by 50%.

Since exports have been increasing at a much stronger rate than imports, Slovenia also started to post a a trade surplus which (services included) in 2017 amounted to almost 10% of GDP and accelerated to 12% of GDP in the third quarter of 2018.

It was a key factor to the improvement of Slovenia's balance of payments and total economy balance. The latest available data indicate that Slovenia's economy posted a surplus of 9.1% of GDP in transactions with abroad in the third quarter of 2018.

The surplus has put the national economy on much healthier foundations, meaning it is no longer living beyond its means, but rather generates savings.

If Slovenia was a net debtor in the pre-crisis years, the banks settling their foreign debts and corporate deleveraging have turned the financial and corporate sectors and households into net creditors to abroad, so that the only net debtor remains general government, having taken out a great amount of foreign debt during the crisis.

  Exports of goods and services    Annual change (%)
              (EUR bn)
2008            20.0                      2.1
2009            16.3                    -18.8
2010            18.6                     14.6
2011            21.0                     12.7
2012            21.1                      0.3
2013            21.5                      2.3
2014            22.9                      6.4
2015            23.9                      4.4
2016            25.0                      4.3
2017            28.3                     13.2

      Balance of goods trade (EUR m)   Total economy balance/
                                       Current account balance
                                              (% of GDP)
2008         -299.6                           -4.8/-5.3
2009         -100.7                           -0.2/-0.6
2010         -146.1                            0.0/-0.1
2011         -155.6                            0.0/0.2
2012         -101.7                            2.2/2.1
2013         -565.4                            3.6/4.4
2014          355.5                            6.0/5.8
2015          635.1                            5.6/4.5
2016          859.1                            4.6/5.5
2017          658.8                            6.3/7.2

Source: Slovenia's Statistics Office, central bank

 

31 Dec 2018, 12:00 PM

STA, 29 December 2018 - Slovenia's growth momentum is expected to moderate in 2019 amid mounting uncertainty surrounding the global economic outlook. Trade wars are seen as the biggest external downward risk, but there are upward risks in the domestic environment as well.

Trump, Brexit and trade wars

Global risks and uncertainty have been increasing throughout this year, in particular those related to the protectionist policies of US President Donald Trump and the uncertainty about Brexit.

Speaking to the STA, Bojan Ivanc, chief economist at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (GZS) Analytics, has warned of the risk of Trump taking measures targeting Europe's car industry, in particular Germany's.

Ivanc believes there is a 50-50 chance for the US and EU to reach an agreement on the issue, but he also says that potential measures would have a major indirect impact on Slovenia, considering the major role that the automotive industry plays in the country's exports.

Given the political confusion surrounding Brexit in the UK, GZS analysts see a 20% likelihood of a repeat referendum or a reversal of the decision to exit the EU.

The likeliest scenario, with a 50% chance, is an interim agreement that would put off answers to key questions about the future relationship into the future. The GZS assessed the odds for a no-deal Brexit at 30%.

Ivanc says that trade wars are a much bigger threat to Slovenia than Brexit because of their impact on the automotive value supply chain and the knock-on effects on transport and construction industries.

The IMF, OECD and the European Commission project global growth to reach about 3.5% in 2019, which is roughly at the level seen this year and the year before.

However, a more pronounced moderation is forecast for Europe's largest economies, including Germany, whose economy is now projected to expand by 1.5% this year and roughly as much in 2019.

Asked how the trends could impact on the Slovenian economy, Ivanc noted that the most recent data on exports remain quite good, but added that some companies at the start of the automotive chain are already seeing a drop in orders for 2019.

Local firms remain optimistic, although lack of staff and wage pressure are concerns

A survey conducted by the GZS among businesses in the autumn showed that most still expected to increase their sales in foreign markets and more than one out of three plan additional hiring while half plan investments.

The key problem for Slovenian businesses today is home-grown, that is a shortage of experienced staff and the related pressure on higher wages and thus higher labour costs.

As a further internal risk factor Ivanc mentioned a slow growth in private consumption. New car purchasing is getting less intensive although it keeps strong, and the number of real estate transactions has fallen in response to an excessive price growth.

Slovenians are mostly keeping their surplus income as savings rather than spending. This could be a cause for concern considering that the contribution of external trade to Slovenia's growth over the next two years is projected to decrease and even disappear.

Ivanc sees domestic demand as an important internal risk to the expected growth in GDP, along with dynamics in the phasing of EU funds, also in connection with major infrastructural projects such as the new Koper-Divača railway.

Slovenia well prepared for a downturn, with construction and consumers likely to drive growth

The GZS believes that Slovenia's resilience to a potential downturn is quite strong, at least within a year or two. Corporate indebtedness is the lowest in a decade and liquidity levels are still high.

Banks are highly capitalised and are financed mostly from domestic savings deposits. Household debts have increased but remain at one of the lowest levels in the eurozone.

Despite this increased resilience, Ivanc would like the government to put in place a suitable and predictable legislative framework that would make it clear on time what it will do when tax revenue drops. He says the government should create sufficient fiscal reserves.

Most of the latest forecasts for the Slovenian economy project growth to slow down from about 4.5% this year to about 3.5% in 2019. Ivanc believes the rate is realistic but also says that surprises are possible in both directions so the interval of growth is between 3% and 4%.

Ivanc says that a positive surprise could come from the construction sector and from Slovenian consumers, who could increase their spending faster than projected.

Meanwhile, the GZS does not see a scope for a positive surprise in the external environment, but rather a likelihood of a slightly more negative scenario, in particular in the automotive chain segment.

21 Nov 2018, 11:50 AM

STA, 20 November 2018 - Small and medium-sized enterprises in Slovenia generate 65.1% of added value and 73.4% of jobs in the non-financial sector of the economy, which is above the EU average, according to the annual report from the European Commission. The annual productivity of these companies was however almost 25% below the EU average.

According to the 2017/2018 annual report on European SMEs, Slovenian SMEs in the non-financials sector recorded a steep growth between 2013 and 2017.

Their added value was up by 33.4%, and number of employees by 5.6%, which is well above the performance of large companies in this department.

In the 2016-2017 period, added value generated by SMEs was up by 8.8%, which was the largest annual increase since 2008. Employment in the same period was up by 2.9%, which is also the largest increase since 2008.

Forecast remains positive for SMEs

The outlook for SMEs and the non-financial sector in Slovenia as a whole remains positive. Added value generated by SMEs is expected to increase by 11.6% in the 2017-2019 period, and employment by 0.6%.

According to the European Commission, the main challenge for Slovenia is still the shortage of qualified staff. It sees a solution in closer ties between the economy and the education system.

The Commission also thinks that Slovenia should find alternative sources of financing, especially for fast-growing companies which deal with innovation. It also calls for further reduction of administrative barriers.

The report, published on Tuesday, coincides with the 2018 SME Assembly, which is taking place in Austria's Graz between Monday and Wednesday. The European Enterprise Promotion Awards will be conferred there this evening.

04 Nov 2018, 11:56 AM

A short Deutsche Welle documentary from 2012 looking at the growing problems Slovenia’s economy faced at the time, which led to the collapse and nationalization of NLB bank, now about to be privatized, followed by a report from 2013 on the corruption scandals that hit the country.

20 Sep 2018, 18:00 PM

STA, 20 September - Slovenian consumers are increasingly pessimistic in their expectations about the state of the country's economy, savings options, and their household finances, fresh statistics show. 

18 Sep 2018, 16:30 PM

STA, 18 September 2018 - Slovenian economists have told the STA that the trade dispute between the US and China could, with new tariffs, hurt export-oriented European economies due to a potential drop in volume of global trade, adding that Slovenia could also feel the negative consequences indirectly. 

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