Economic Growth at 7.2% in Q1
Fuelled by flourishing exports, domestic spending and investment, Slovenia's economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.2% in the first quarter of this year. This is the fastest rate of economic growth in Slovenia since the second quarter of 1999, when a spending rush ahead of the introduction of value added tax provided a one-time boost to growth, Karmen Hren of the Statistics Office told the press on Friday, 8 June. It is also the fifth consecutive quarter that the economy has expanded at near or above 5%.
Slovenia's exports were the main motor of growth in the first quarter, expanding by 13.6% compared to the same period a year ago, said Hren, who added that imports also grew robustly (13.7%). Hren told the press conference that the economic growth figures did not come as a surprise, since all indicators had been pointing to the fact that the economy was in good shape.
This was echoed by Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak: "It seems the measures taken by the government and other players are the right ones and that they have bolstered the positive mood in the economy." The Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD), the government think tank, hailed what it labelled as healthy structural growth, saying it was not expected to cause significant inflation in the coming months.
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