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The announcement was made by Delia Velculescu, who heads the IMF mission to Slovenia, at the conclusion of a two-week regular annual visit.

She said that the upgraded forecast was a result of strong exports and growing public investments supported by EU funding.

The Slovenian economy is projected to grow by 1.75% in 2015, said Velculescu, as continued deleveraging in the corporate sector and fiscal consolidation dampens activity somewhat.

Thereafter the country will face "subdued growth prospects in the mid-term, well below those of pre-crisis levels", said Velculescu.

The IMF official explained that the upgrade was made on the basis of the recently released GDP data for the third quarter showing that the Slovenian economy grew by 2.6% year-on-year.

On top of continued resilience in the export sector, the IMF concluded that there were also signs of a much-needed revival in private consumption stemming from improved consumer confidence on job and pay prospects.

"Private investment, however, remains weak given that many firms are burdened with high debt," the mission highlighted in a document presenting its conclusions.

Velculescu said that the mid-term priorities for the country included building resilience of the economy and rekindling domestic consumption as a means of boosting the jobs market.

She also called for a continued reform momentum focusing on bank and corporate restructuring and balanced fiscal consolidation.

Predicting a mid-term growth rate of 1.75-2% a year, the mission said in its conclusions that "living standards would return to pre-crisis levels only toward the end of the decade".