Finance Minister: No Need to Request Aid, Budget as Planned
He said that Slovenia would need to prepare a solution for bad loans in its banks, however, the Finance Ministry does not see that a sufficient reason for considering financial aid.
Moreover, the minister rejected unofficial information, which surfaced today, that Slovenia would need to borrow some EUR 1.3bn in November and that this was the reason for the government's haste in passing legislative changes aimed at giving a positive signal to financial markets.
He stressed that the figure did not stem from the ministry's data and calculations, and it neither reflected Slovenia's financial needs for this year.
According to Šušteršič, the figure was "either a mistake or a misinterpretation".
The minimum needs of Slovenia by the end of the year will be around EUR 500m, however, the ministry is always trying to create reserves so the figure could be somewhat higher, the minister explained.
The minister believes this year's planned budget deficit of 3% of GDP will be reached. He stressed that the ministry would do everything to keep budget expenses at some EUR 9bn, while budget revenues were still estimated at the planned EUR 7.9bn.
"If economic policies will be as they should be, the financing of the budget will surely be secured," Šušteršič said, explaining that several options were open for acquiring new funds, from short-term loans on the domestic market to US dollar-denominated debt securities.