While the IMAD government macroeconomic forecaster once featured progressive economic thinkers, today it is nothing but a neo-liberal think-tank, the weekly Mladina says in its latest commentary, adding that this comes to the detriment of the numerous talented individuals employed there.

The newspaper Finance takes issue in Friday's commentary with the government's plan to fight precarious forms of work. It deems such a position narrow-minded and possibly harmful for the labour market.

As the election campaign starts ahead of the November local elections, the newspaper Večer takes a look at the situation in the north-east in Friday's commentary, particularly Maribor, where as many as 18 candidates are standing for mayor.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec met French President Emmanuel Macron for about half-an-hour long bilateral meeting in Brussels on Thursday which focused on cooperation at the EU level and the fight against populism.

Coming out of an EU summit in Brussels that brought no progress on migration issues or on the reform of the eurozone, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec told reporters on Thursday evening the meeting had not been a waste of time. He stressed that results could not be expected overnight and that reaching agreements on key issues took time.

Addressing the 2018 Slovenian Regional Days, a two-day event hosted by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said in Podčetrtek on Thursday that EUR 480m had been secured for a dozen projects promoting regional development.

If Slovenia's largest bank is privatised by the end of 2018, ratings agency Fitch will improve its rating by one notch. In the opposite case, Fitch said on Thursday it could downgrade NLB's rating, which currently stands at BB.