Slovenia's central bank is under interim leadership starting from 9 January after the six-year term of governor Boštjan Vasle expired the day before and a successor is yet to be appointed.

Vice-governor Primož Dolenc took over in the interim period after President Nataša Pirc Musar's pick for governor, former Prime Minister Anton Rop, was rejected by parliament in November.

Insiders are warning, according to N1 news portal, that the situation could be problematic since Dolenc will double as both deputy governor and chair of the Bank of Slovenia's Governing Board.

The portal quoted unnamed experts as saying that the spirit of the law would be best served if two different vice-governors occupied the two posts, akin to what happened in 2007, when Mitja Gaspari unsuccessfully vied for a second term as governor.

Moreover, without a governor with full powers, Bank of Slovenia will not have voting rights on the European Central Bank's (ECB) Governing Council.

According to ECB rules of procedure, Dolenc will be invited to Council sessions but will not be able to vote on monetary policy decisions.

"Bank of Slovenia hopes the appointment of the governor will be resolved as quickly as possible since participation in monetary policy decisions is of utmost importance for Slovenia," the central bank told N1.

President Pirc Musar is expected to nominate a new candidate for governor shortly and has reportedly already consulted parliamentary factions. The first time around she picked among those who submitted candidacies in an open call, this time she has decided to pick a new candidate independently.

Info360, an investigative news portal, recently reported that her candidate was Petra Senkovič, head of the Directorate General Secretariat at the ECB. Neither Pirc Musar nor Senkovič would confirm or deny the report.

In the past thirty years, four candidates for governor stumbled in parliament, Rop included.