The latest projections of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that, given the expected difference in economic growth rates, Slovenia will overtake Italy in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power standards by 2029 and come much closer to the UK and France.

The SBI TOP index of blue chips on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange grew by 1.06% to 1,441.43 points on Friday. The winner of the day was the NLB bank, which added almost 3% and accounted for nearly two-thirds of the overall trading volume of almost EUR 1.3 million.

Slovenia's merchandise exports declined by 2.1% in March, whereas imports contracted by 6.7%, the latest Statistics Office figures show.

Večer warns in Friday's commentary that Europe must not become too dependent on China given the experience with the deep energy integration with Russia.

After expanding by 1.6% in 2023, Slovenia's economic growth is expected to accelerate to a rate slightly above 2% this year according to multiple forecasters. Growth is projected to accelerate moderately over the medium term. Below is an overview of the latest forecasts:

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has upgraded the outlook for Slovenia's growth. It expects the economy to expand by 2.3% this year, a 0.5 point increase on its previous forecast, and by 2.7% in 2025, the same rate it forecast late last year.

The Krško nuclear power station has been brought back online after a month-long scheduled maintenance shutdown. The plant was reconnected to the grid on Thursday and now power will be gradually stepped up.