Speaking after a meeting of coalition parties with Prime Minister Janez Janša ahead of Tuesday's negotiations with social partners, Virant added that the idea of increasing VAT had been conceived under previous governments, but had never made it to the table.

The much debated VAT hike has been met with a mixed response within the coalition, and New Slovenia (NSi) president Ljudmila Novak said ahead of the meeting this was a touchy subject that would still need to be debated, adding that the budget revenues had to be increased somehow.

According to Virant, the head of the Citizens' List (DL), the negotiations with social partners on the planned pension and labour market reforms tomorrow would show whether the government will debate the two reforms already on Wednesday.

Novak, Virant and People's Party (SLS) president Radovan Žerjav all warned of the severe consequences that possible referenda on the government's reforms and further delays in the implementation of measures may have for the country.

Moreover, Žerjav, who is also the economy minister, spoke against softening reforms too much in negotiations, stressing that they must feature content and changes to make sense.

He called for decisive action, as he believes the proposed projects and reforms must now simply be picked up, reviewed, corrected and finally passed.