Banka Slovenije notes that private consumption was unexpectedly weak in the second quarter of the year, just like in the first three quarters of 2017 when higher employment was not followed by a rise in household consumption.

It stresses that the situation is favourable for private consumption, because employment and wages in real terms are growing. The August rise in wages in real terms stood at 4.8%, just slightly below the pre-crisis 2006-2008 period.

Fixed assets investments in the second quarter of the year slowed down considerably. Should this trend continue, it could indicate how reduced trust stemming from a strained global situation has affected exporters' investment decisions.

While companies report problems in finding staff and unemployment is approaching the lowest pre-crisis levels, employment continues to grow fast. This is due to a rise in foreign workers, who accounted for more than half of August's 3% annual rise in the number of workers, farmers excluded.

Slovenia's external standing is also improving; the current account surplus reached nearly 8% of the estimated GDP in August, while exports of goods and services increased after a drop in the first quarter. Net external debt has been decreasing since 2015, by almost two billion euro in the last year.

While public finances are in an increasingly good shape, the central bank warns the government not to take measures that would worsen them if it wants them to remain sustainable, noting the government's debt is much higher than before the crisis.

In October's Economic and Financial Trends, Banka Slovenije also highlights low productivity growth, which reached only an average 1.9% in the last two years, dropping to 1% in the first half of 2018 as opposed to around 4% before the crisis.