Kranjec told the members of the management board of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) that Slovenian banks were still solvent, but that the situation was deteriorating and that owners, especially the state, find it ever harder to secure additional capital.

The banking system will end in the red again this year and this will continue until banks clean up their balance sheets and improve the loans portfolio to pre-crisis levels.

He pointed out that average annual impairments by Slovenian banks stood at between EUR 300m and EUR 400m before the crisis and rose to EUR 1.2bn with the crisis.

Kranjec hopes political consensus on reforms, austerity and other measures will be reached to improve Slovenia's position on financial markers and thereby indirectly give banks easier access to credit.

While again questioning the prudence of state ownership in banks, the governor also put in question Slovenia's strategy of building its development on loans while being closed to foreign capital.

He argued Banka Slovenije was not favouring foreign capital for ideological reasons but for the sake of prosperity in Slovenia.