Speaking on the sidelines of the Bled Strategic forum, Čufer said he expects a positive grade from the European Commission in the autumn regarding measures in Slovenia.

He said that much had been done since the government sent the Stability Programme to Brussels in May and that the delay in the bad bank efforts was the product of the Commission's demand for stress tests and bank assets evaluation.

The Slovenia Sovereign Holding act also took longer than expected because of the wish to draw up a quality law that would end the poor corporate management of state assets, the minister added. He explained that the changes were worked on during the summer and could be presented shortly.

Čufer announced a revival of steps towards a real-estate tax, after which the "majority of measures planned for this year will have actually been adopted".

What will be necessary then is a change of focus away from taxes to saving in the public sector, he said, arguing that businesses needed a stable environment.

The minister also provided the first government response to last week's release of data showing a 1.7% annual contraction in economic output in the second quarter after a 4.6% year-on-year collapse in the first quarter.

He expects that the measures of the government, which took over in March, will only show effects after two or three quarters. "If we had high GDP growth now, we would not really be able to say that we contributed to this significantly," Čufer said.