Speaking at a press conference only hours after the minister tendered the resignation on Monday, Cerar said that Mramor was performing his work unselfishly and successfully, explaining that the resignation could hurt Slovenia's interests.

The minister offered his resignation to Cerar over the unlawful standby bonuses he had approved and received in his previous job as dean of the Faculty of Economics.

In announcing his move, Mramor said he believed that considering he had lost trust in the public he could no longer perform the post.

Cerar stressed that Mramor had regretted his mistake, publicly apologised for it and that he would fully correct it, as the minister had announced that he would return the bonuses in full, which reportedly amounted to EUR 45,000 gross.

The prime minister regretted that the issue of lawfulness of the bonuses had not been resolved at the faculty already in 2008, when their payment had started.

Among Mramor's biggest achievements, Cerar pointed to stabilisation of public finances, the government's main goal. Mramor's contribution was also key in the adoption of the golden fiscal rule, the PM added.

Cerar also pointed to the adoption of the state asset management strategy, the overhaul of the Slovenian Sovereign Holding and the implementation of the principle of good corporate governance in practice.

With the "noticeable contribution" from Minister Mramor, Slovenia in 2014 reached a relatively high and stable economic growth, which also persisted in 2015 and reaches into this year, the PM said.

Cerar also noted that under Mramor, Slovenia had considerably reduced budget deficit, improved its competitiveness and credit ratings, which had resulted in better conditions for borrowing.

The minister had been under increasing pressure to step down in the wake of the scandal, as has been Education Minister Maja Makovec Brenčič, who was paid a total of EUR 26,094 gross in standby bonuses in the 2009-2013 period as professor at the Faculty of Economics.

Makovec Brenčič's ministry told the STA today that the minister would not offer her resignation to Cerar, who in turn told the press that Makovec Brenčič still enjoyed his trust.

The unlawfulness of the bonuses has been established by the Public Sector Inspectorate, and the police said recently it had launched a criminal investigation into the matter. A procedure has also been introduced by the anti-graft watchdog.

Minister Mramor's decision to offer resignation came only two weeks after he was declared Europe's best finance minister of 2016 by the London-based magazine The Banker.