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Jazbec is taking over at turbulent times, as state owned bank gear up to transfer non-performing loans to the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) with the help of the central bank and under the watchful eye of the European Commission.

In his last statements before taking office, Jazbec was upbeat both about the prospects for the banking system and Slovenia's ability to make do without foreign financial assistance.

However, he was served a stark reminder just a day before, as the central bank said the banking system posted joint pre-tax losses of EUR 117m in the first five months of 2013, up from EUR 45.7m in the year before.

The loss is a result of lower net interest income and persistently high provisions for bad loans, which were down only 4.3% year-on-year.

A monetary policy specialist, Jazbec graduated from the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics and then obtained his masters from the European University in Prague and doctorate at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Vienna.

He served on the governing board of Banka Slovenije between 2003 and 2008 in between stints with the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund.