Ljubljana, 03 May (STA) - The European Commission has further upgraded Slovenia's growth outlook in its spring forecast, by 0.5 points to 4.7% for this year. In 2019, the country's GDP is to expand by 3.6%, up 0.1 point from the February forecast. Both figures are significantly above the eurozone average.
In the report unveiled on Thursday, the Commission says Slovenia was among the fastest-growing economies in the eurozone last year, when its GDP expanded by 5%.
Despite the significant upgrade, the forecast from Brussels is lower than the forecast issued by the government forecaster IMAD in March. IMAD expect the country's economy to grow by 5.1% this year and by 3.8% in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Commission's report projects Slovenia to create a 0.5% budget surplus this year, which compares to a balanced budget the Commission forecast for Slovenia in November. In 2019, Slovenia is to record a 0.4% surplus, which is on a par with the autumn forecast.
However, the Commission believes Slovenia's structural fiscal situation will worsen after last year's improvement. It expects the structural deficit to reach 1.1% of GDP this year and increase to 1.5% in 2019.
In November, the Commission said the structural deficit for 2016-2018 would remain unchanged at 1.6% of GDP to be reduced by 0.2 percentage points in 2019.