General Govt Deficit at 1.9% GDP, Debt at 29.4% GDP in 2004

Ljubljana, 1 March

The current deficit of the general government sector in 2004 amounted to SIT 117.32bn (EUR 489m) or 1.9% of GDP and debt totalled SIT 1,823.94bn (EUR 7.61bn) or 29.4% of GDP, a report compiled by the Finance Ministry in cooperation with the Statistics Office says. The report has been sent to the European Commission, which will use it to examine whether Slovenia meets the Maastricht convergence criteria.

Slovenia currently meets the Maastricht criteria according to which the ratio of government deficit to GDP must not exceed 3% and the ratio of government debt to GDP must not exceed 60%.
The Statistics Office forecast for 2005 is that the deficit would amount to SIT 127.44bn (EUR 532m) and remain at 1.9% of GDP, while the debt is expected to rise to SIT 1,994.53bn (EUR 8.32bn) to 30.1% of GDP.
The report, which covers the 2001-2005 period, shows the deficit drop from 2.8% GDP in 2001 to 1.9% GDP. According to 2005 forecast, the greatest increase in deficit, from 1.8% to 2.7% of GDP, is expected in the central government. Debt meanwhile increased from 28.1% GDP in 2001 to 29.4% GDP in 2004.
The data for 2004 and the forecast for 2005 were prepared by the Ministry of Finance in co-operation with the Statistics Office on the basis of available information for the previous year and forecasts for the current year for the units of the general government sector, which are based on adopted budget and financial plans.
Data for 2001-2003 period are the same as published in September 2004. Revised data for the whole period will be published in September 2005 in a regular autumn report sent to the European Commission.

General Govt Deficit at 1.9% GDP, Debt at 29.4% GDP in 2004

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