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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 28, 2013 12:37:14 GMT -5
Alenka Bratusek elected as Slovenia's new PM.
English.news.cn 2013-02-28 06:10:01
LJUBLJANA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Slovenian National Assembly dismissed on Wednesday night the coalition government headed by Prime Minister Janez Jansa, and appointed simultaneously Alenka Bratusek as prime minister-designate.
Bratusek, 42, is the interim leader of Positive Slovenia (PS), the largest opposition party in parliament.
She was sworn in immediately. In her brief inaugural address, Bratusek vowed to focus efforts on restoring trust in the state, democracy and the rule of law.
"Slovenia cannot afford a continuation of the economic contraction and rising unemployment," Bratusek addressed parliament hours before she got prime minister appointment.
"Cutting spending will not in itself achieve economic growth ... not lead to deficit reduction," the woman financial expert told legislators.
Earlier in the day, the National Assembly also elected Janko Veber as parliament speaker, paying the way for the legislature to have a new cabinet led by a new prime minister.
Elected in a 52-34 vote, Veber succeeds Gregor Virant, who stepped down as speaker in January after his Citizens' List left the coalition government headed Jansa.
Jansa defended firmly his austerity policy during his term, and voiced grave concern over Bratusek's statement over the future economic measures. A supplementary budget that would erase austerity efforts would be repeating old mistakes, he said.
The outgoing prime minister also rejected criticism that his government had trampled social dialogue, saying that "all key solutions in this term were made after negotiations with the social partners."
Jansa and his cabinet will continue to perform caretaker duties until a new government is sworn in.
Bratusek will now have 15 days to propose a cabinet to the National Assembly, a deadline that can be extended once at her request.
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Post by TsarSamuil on May 19, 2013 3:54:54 GMT -5
Fitch downgrades Slovenia's credit rating to BBB+
English.news.cn 2013-05-18 01:05:51
LONDON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Fitch Ratings downgraded Slovenia's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to "BBB+" from "A-" on Friday.
The outlook on the long-term IDRs remains negative.
The London-based agency has simultaneously affirmed the short-term foreign currency IDR at "F2" and the common eurozone Country Ceiling for Slovenia at "AAA."
The macroeconomic and fiscal outlook has deteriorated greatly since Fitch's last rating review of the Slovenian sovereign in August 2012, the agency said.
It also forecast a 2-percent contraction in Slovenia's real GDP in 2013 and a decline of 0.3 percent in 2014.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jun 23, 2013 15:43:48 GMT -5
Slovenian legislators confirm privatization package.
English.news.cn 2013-06-22 09:41:11
LJUBLJANA, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian parliament adopted on Friday a bill by the cabinet to sell state-owned stakes in 15 companies.
The companies include flag carrier Adria Airways , and New Credit Bank Maribor (NKBM), the second largest banking group in the country.
Beside business affiliated with Adria Airways, the sale of state assets also covers, among others, the field of telecommunication, manufactures of food, chemicals and tools.
The privatization package is believed to be part of efforts by the government led by Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek to avert an international bailout.
It will be a stone in the mosaic of a comprehensive economic policy, Finance Minister Uros Cufer said at an extraordinary session of parliament.
The privatization package is expected to result in total savings of around 1 billion euros (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) in spending cuts and revenues, according to the minister.
Slovenia has been in growing financial difficulties since 2008 which saw the start of financial crisis in the United States and Europe.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Oct 5, 2013 5:52:52 GMT -5
Minority Hails Election of Ethnic Slovenian to Austrian Parliament. POLITICS, 02 Oct 2013 / By STA, T. M. The umbrella organisations of the Slovenian minority in Austria's Carinthia have welcomed the election of minority member Angelika Mlinar to the federal parliament on Sunday, stressing that it was the first time the minority would have representatives both in the provincial and federal parliament. Head of the Community of Carinthian Slovenians (SKS) Bernard Sadovnik pointed out on Tuesday that Mlinar would be a vigorous advocate of the rights of all minorities in Austria. He added that the minority would now be represented for the first time in the Carinthian parliament, as well as the lower and upper chamber of the federal parliament after three other ethnic Slovenians were elected legislators on the slates of different parties earlier this year. Marjan Sturm of the Association of Slovenian Organisations (ZSO) underlined the importance of political pluralism among members of the Slovenian minority. He said it was good for the minority to have representatives everywhere to be able to change things. The National Council of Carinthian Slovenians (NSKS), where Mlinar served as secretary general in the past, already congratulated her on the election on Monday. 
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 15, 2014 10:32:20 GMT -5
Slovenia declines recognition of German speaking community.
English.news.cn 2014-03-14 07:34:15
LJUBLJANA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec hailed on Thursday "very good relations" with Austria, but declined to accept Vienna's demand to recognize the German speaking community in Slovenia.
The recognition of the German-speaking group needs revising Slovenia's constitution, which requires two-thirds majority in parliament, Erjavec told reporters after meeting with his Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz.
"This is not the moment in which such a debate could be successful," he said. "The Constitution is only rarely changed in Slovenia."
It was estimated that the German speaking community in Slovenia, which does not live in a single compact area, consists of around 2,000 people, accounting for only one percent of two million population in the country.
Austria hopes for Slovenia to recognize the German-speaking community, and to offer it status similar to the Italian and Hungarian minorities, Kurz said.
The communities of Hungarian and Italian are constitutionally recognized minorities in Slovenia.
Being one of Slovenia's most important trade partners and the leading investor, Austria's investments in Slovenia have amounted to 5.7 billion euros (7.4 billion U.S. dollars), while bilateral merchandise trade totalled 4.3 billion euros (5.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 19, 2014 19:17:27 GMT -5
Slovenia facing positive changes: PM.
English.news.cn 2014-03-20 01:35:40
LJUBLJANA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia is facing positive changes in curbing growing financial crisis, thus making the restructuring of economy and growth possible, Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek said on Wednesday.
Thanks to the stabilization of national banking system, negative growth has been reversed and the interest rate on Slovenian debt dropped below four percent, Bratusek told reporters.
This is the biggest achievement since this government took office in March 2013, she noted.
In the fourth quarter of 2013, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 2.1 percent in comparison with the same quarter of 2012, according to a survey by the Statistics Office in February.
Slovenia has "technically slipped out of recession" after eight quarters of negative growth, analysts said.
Based on the positive phenomena, the government will strive for job creation with the target number of 60,000, while putting an end to "reckless austerity" that had weighed down on private spending and corporate investments, Bratusek said.
On the government-initiated privatization, she said that while the process of transferring ownership of state enterprises is proceeding as planned, she is "not in favor of reckless and cheap sell-off."
The financial crisis that has been going on for years in Slovenia spured the call for speeding up the process of privitization in the country.
To overcome the crisis, Slovenian parliament approved in June 2013 to sell state-owned stakes in 15 companies, including flag carrier Adria Airways, and New Credit Bank Maribor (NKBM), the second largest banking group in the country.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Apr 1, 2014 17:34:21 GMT -5
Slovenia facing "debt nightmare": report.
English.news.cn 2014-04-01 18:56:05
LJUBLJANA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The influential Slovenian daily Delo on Tuesday voiced its grave concern over a possible increase of government debt predicted by national statistical authorities.
The sovereign debt will increase to 81 percent of Slovenia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014 while more than 1.1 billion euros (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) will be spent on the cost of interest alone, according to the latest estimates by the Statistics Office of Slovenia.
Noting the figures have nothing to do with April Fool's Day, the leading Slovenian daily Delo described the increasing debt as "debt nightmare."
The government hesitated little in borrowing high-interest debt before drawing up a solid tax act, said the newspaper, urging the authorities to be "more effective, more responsible, and less complacent."
Slovenia recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 71.7 percent of the country's GDP in 2013. Government Debt To GDP in Slovenia reportedly averaged 30.77 percent in 1995-2013.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jul 29, 2014 16:40:37 GMT -5
Slovenia Re-Launches Privatization of 15 State-Owned Companies.
Novinite.com World | July 29, 2014, Tuesday // 15:41
Slovenia has announced it is re-launching the privatization of 15 state-owned enterprises before the new government assumes office. The plan was temporarily frozen due to the parliamentary elections, according to reports of the BGNES news agency. The outgoing center-left coalition of Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek put the privatization program on hold to allow the new government to review the process. The sale of state-owned companies is a key part of the stabilization plan for Slovenia's public finances and the economy after the government spent over EUR 3 B on bailing out banks last year.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2014 3:55:13 GMT -5
Slovenia Re-Launches Privatization of 15 State-Owned Companies. Novinite.com World | July 29, 2014, Tuesday // 15:41 Slovenia has announced it is re-launching the privatization of 15 state-owned enterprises before the new government assumes office. The plan was temporarily frozen due to the parliamentary elections, according to reports of the BGNES news agency. The outgoing center-left coalition of Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek put the privatization program on hold to allow the new government to review the process. The sale of state-owned companies is a key part of the stabilization plan for Slovenia's public finances and the economy after the government spent over EUR 3 B on bailing out banks last year. EU: "A step in the right direction. We're proud of you."
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Post by TsarSamuil on Apr 16, 2016 6:55:49 GMT -5
Markets | Wed Apr 13, 2016 9:29am EDT Related: FINANCIALS
Slovenian ministry proposes retirement age increase to 67 from 59.
Reuters BRDO PRI KRANJU, SLOVENIA, APRIL 13 | BY MARJA NOVAK
Slovenia's labour ministry on Wednesday proposed raising the retirement age to 67 from 59, in line with a suggestion from the International Monetary Fund.
The ministry said that, without changes, budget spending for pensions would increase to 15.3 percent of GDP by 2060 from 11.8 percent at present -- the highest increase among European Union states -- due to the rapid ageing of the Slovenian population.
"We suggest a special mechanism according to which retirement age would be automatically adjusted to future demographic trends," the ministry said in a report on the pension system.
At present the retirement age can only be raised with new laws regardless of constant increasing of life expectancy.
Prime Minister Miro Cerar told reporters later on Wednesday that government had not yet decided when it will prepare a new pension law and pointed out that a previous pension reform, enforced at the start of 2013, was still ongoing.
In line with the 2013 pension reform the retirement age will be gradually raised to 65 by 2019.
The IMF and the European Commission have urged Slovenia to pass a new reform, saying the present pension system is not sustainable in the long run.
Slovenia, which narrowly avoided an international bailout for its banks in 2013, hopes to bring the budget deficit to zero by the end of 2020 from some 2.2 percent of GDP seen this year.
(Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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