While revenue was up year-on-year by 6.5% to EUR 1.1bn, expenditure increased by 1.9%, Nina Stražišar of the office told the press.

"Thus Slovenia has come to the point when its revenue and expenditure are almost balanced," she said, noting that this was the first time since the country gained independence in 1991.

The revenue growth followed the pace of the economic growth in nominal terms, which reached 7.1%.

The state collected EUR 848m (+5.7%) more taxes and social contributions. Because of companies' positive operations, non-tax revenue such as participation in profit, was also up.

The expenditure grew at a somewhat slower pace, rising by 1.9% to EUR 346m, because of favourable economic situation and partly also because of expenditure curbing measures.

Stražišar also pointed to a 12% cut in the cost of interest.

Investment into fixed assets remained relatively low last year, shrinking by 0.9% compared to 2016.

The drawing of EU funds from the new financial perspective increased somewhat compared to 2016 and subsidies also rose by 2.5%.

Slovenia has been gradually reducing its government budget deficit since 2013, when it peaked at 15% of GDP.

Meanwhile, the general government debt has been increasing. In 2017, it rose by 0.3% to EUR 31.86bn or 73.6% of GDP. Because of the GDP growth in nominal terms, the figure is 6.7% lower than in 2014.

The Finance Ministry responded to the fresh statistics by saying it was happy that Slovenia managed to balance the government budget. But public finances must continue to be managed responsibly, Minister Mateja Vraničar Erman said.

The process of public financial consolidation is not over yet. "We have not yet strengthened our resilience to the point where we could offset the negative effects of the next crisis, which is very important for Slovenia as an export-oriented economy."

Vraničar Erman warned that difficult decisions would need to be taken again in a few years if mistakes from the past were repeated.

Slovenia is also bound by the fiscal rule law, which demands a balanced budget or a budget surplus, which Slovenia has not achieved yet.

"I wish all political parties were aware of that, especially in the pre-election period," she said, warning against reckless spending.