bne IntelliNews – The Slovenian economy is showing signs of slowing down
On 26 October, the Slovenian Central Bank announced that the growth of economic activity in the country remained high, but showed signs of moderation.
In 2020, the Slovenian economy shrank by 4.2%. According to the Statistical Office, the Slovenian economy recorded strong year-on-year real GDP growth of 16.3% in the second quarter of 2021, after growing by 1.6% in the previous quarter. a slowdown is expected in the coming period.
“The utilization of production capacity is high, a pre-crisis level of activity has been reached, but there is a noticeable shortage of raw materials, intermediate products and skilled workers, and the growth of freight transport has slowed down,” the central bank said. he said in a statement.
This year’s growth is expected to remain strong: earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) significantly improved its forecast for Slovenia’s GDP growth in 2021 to 6.3% compared to the May 3.9% growth forecast.
In September, Slovenia achieved an average inflation rate of 2.7% due to higher energy prices compared to last year’s low base and increasingly expensive oil.
“At the same time, the prices of non-energy industrial goods are rising the fastest since 2008, as companies have problems with high raw material prices and irregular supply of intermediate products,” the statement said.
The number of employees in the labor market (902,000) reached its highest level in July, while the registered unemployment rate also decreased in August and September. Companies are increasingly employing foreign workers, which alleviates wage pressures, the central bank said.
Year-on-year growth in average gross wages, which stood at 7.1% in July, is largely due to higher wages in the public sector.
The general government position of the country improved on an annual basis in the first half of the year with rapid economic growth.
Due to the effect of the low base and the further acceleration of economic activity, general government revenue increased even more strongly in the second quarter than in the first, and expenditure growth slowed considerably, so that the budget deficit also narrowed.