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International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This paper focuses on the following key issues of the Slovenian economy: export competitiveness, corporate financial health and investment, European Central Bank (ECB) quantitative easing, and financial sector development issues and prospects. Slovenia’s exports have been the main contributor to GDP growth in recent years. In particular, by 2015 exports of goods and services had increased by 20 percentage points of GDP compared to their postcrisis low in 2009. Preceding the global economic slump in 2008, bank credit in Slovenia fueled corporate investment. The past few years have witnessed substantial monetary easing by the ECB. With inflation running well below target, the ECB has been pursuing unconventional monetary policy-easing actions.
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper examines inflation dynamics in Bulgaria from January 2012 to February 2015 and highlights some stylized facts about inflation in the country. January 2012 to February 2015 is the most relevant period for identifying factors contributing to recent deflation in Bulgaria, as well as their relative importance. Regression analysis suggests that during this period the inward spillover of low inflationary pressure from the European Union to Bulgaria has been the most significant factor, which was further exacerbated by consecutive electricity price cuts in 2013 and fast-falling global commodity prices, especially since late 2014.
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Information Annex highlights that Slovenia maintains an exchange system that is free of restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions, with the exception of exchange restrictions maintained for security reasons. Slovenian fiscal statistics are timely and high quality. The Ministry of Finance publishes a comprehensive monthly Bulletin of Government Finance, which presents monthly data on the operations of the state budget, local governments, social security, and the consolidated general government. The coverage of general government excludes the operations of extrabudgetary funds and general government agencies’ own revenues. However, these operations are small.
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
Slovenia, among other euro area countries, experienced the largest economic contraction since 2008. The performance of Slovenian banks deteriorated markedly in recent years as a result of the unfavorable operating environment and weak governance. Despite some deleveraging, banks continued to depend heavily on wholesale funding from abroad. Slovenia’s rebalancing required relying on supply-side policies, in particular, the labor market. With the banking system under pressure and the corporate sector highly leveraged, the Executive Board recommended strengthening the regulatory and supervisory frameworks.
International Monetary Fund
The global crisis exacerbated the Slovenian economy’s previous imbalances in the fiscal, financial, and real sectors. The authorities agreed that fiscal consolidation including pension, health care, and financial management is essential for sustainable recovery. The Bank of Slovenia emphasizes that banks’ governance and capitalization should be enhanced, regardless of ownership. The authorities suggested that structural reforms in labor and product markets are critical to boost potential growth. The authorities agreed that maintaining competitiveness is crucial for Slovenia as it has a small and export-dependent economy.
International Monetary Fund
In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund (the “Fund”), and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, the Bank of Slovenia agrees to lend to the Fund an SDR-denominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 280 million, on the terms and conditions set out in this paper.
Ms. Katerina Smídková
,
Jan Babecky
, and
Mr. Ales Bulir
The Great Recession affected export and import patterns in our sample countries, and these changes, coupled with a more volatile external environment, have profound impact on our estimates of real exchange rate misalignments and projections of sustainable real exchange rates. We find that real misalignments in several countries with pegged exchange rates and excessive external liabilities widened relative to earlier estimates. While countries with balanced net trade positions are expected to continue to experience appreciation during 2010-2014, several currencies are likely to require real depreciation to maintain sustainable net external debt. Our estimates point to somewhat larger disequilibria than those of IMF country teams, however, any estimates of equilibrium exchange rates are subject to sizable uncertainty.
International Monetary Fund
This 2009 Article IV Consultation highlights that inflation and the current account deficit in Slovenia are expected to moderate. The main downward risks to growth are lower-than-projected growth in Europe, and a credit crunch in the event that foreign financing of domestic banks dries up. In the medium term, the main challenge is that the economy needs to emerge from the global crisis on a sustainable growth path. Executive Directors have commended the authorities for their swift and decisive policy responses to slower growth and financial sector strains.
International Monetary Fund
The first analysis focuses on external stability, an important issue in view of Croatia’s external imbalances and the requirements of the IMF’s 2007 Decision on Bilateral Surveillance. The paper shows that the real exchange rate is broadly in line with economic fundamentals and that external debt dynamics are sustainable as long as macroeconomic policies remain strong. The second analysis finds significant inefficiencies in Croatia’s social spending. It also discusses several reform measures to reduce inefficiencies in public spending and generate budgetary savings to reduce the general government deficit.
International Monetary Fund
The Czech Republic’s strong fundamentals helped to sustain economic growth with low unemployment and underpin strides toward convergence with EU-15. Executive Directors welcomed the euro accession strategy and the sustained implementation of the Maastricht criteria, which would provide a solid foundation for euro adoption. They commended the sound financial system and prudent monetary policies and supported policy tightening to counter rising inflation pressures. Directors highlighted the need to sustain fiscal consolidation, promote labor participation, and lower structural unemployment in alleviating fiscal adjustment.