News roundup - Friday, 29 September, until 3pm

Slovenia's annual inflation accelerates to 7.5% in September

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's annual inflation rate surged to 7.5% in September, 1.3 percentage points higher than the month before. Data from the Statistics Office shows inflation continues to be driven by higher prices of food and non-alcoholic drinks, which rose by 9.2% contributing 1.6 points to inflation. Adding 0.9 points, electricity was 26.5% costlier since the measure reducing network fees expired. A 7.8% increase in prices in the recreation and culture group contributed 0.8 points.

Golob indicates higher taxation of property being considered

PORTOROŽ - Prime Minister Robert Golob indicated higher taxation of property is under consideration, telling a congress of the Manager Association on Thursday that there is inequality when it comes to property taxes. Slovenia is egalitarian when it comes to the taxation of income, which is high compared to other European countries. "Perhaps this is true of income that we are dragging overperformers towards the average, but this is definitely not true of property," he said. Golob said property "is untaxed" and business leaders "often forget about this detail".

Poklukar discusses migrations with Bosnian minister

LJUBLJANA - Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar discussed migrations and takeaways of Thursday's meeting of EU interior ministers with Bosnian Security Minister Nenad Nešić as the pair spoke on the phone. Poklukar presented the joint initiative that Slovenia and Croatia addressed to EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson calling on the EU Commission to campaign quickly and actively for a status agreement between Frontex and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Effective management of migrations is a shared task of all countries in the region, said Poklukar.

SOVA and police told to monitor illegal migration

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Commission for the Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services has instructed the police and the intelligence and security agency SOVA to closely monitor the situation regarding illegal migrations and the asylum centre in the Ljubljana borough of Vič, commission chair Janez Žakelj said after yesterday's commission session. They have to report regularly to the commission.

Companies to receive EUR 25.8m in subsidies for emission costs

LJUBLJANA - The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy has allocated EUR 25.76 million to companies for the indirect costs of emissions they had in 2022 due to higher electricity prices resulting from the impact of carbon prices on the cost of electricity production. A total of 16 companies are eligible for the subsidies. The money is paid from the Climate Change Fund to companies from certain manufacturing sectors that are exposed to the risks of transfer of carbon dioxide emission to third countries.

General government debt at 3.7% of GDP in Q2, deficit at 70.5% of GDP

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's general government deficit accelerated slightly to 3.7% of GDP in the second quarter of this year even though revenue rose at a faster pace than expenditure. Total revenue rose for the tenth consecutive quarter, increasing by 8.4% to EUR 6.9 billion. Expenditure rose at a slower rate, 8.1%, to hit EUR 7.5 billion. General government debt rose by a percentage point to 70.5%, the latest statistics show.

Little impact of GDP revision on this year's data

LJUBLJANA - The sharp revision of GDP growth figures for 2022 has not had a major impact on figures for this year, the Statistics Office said. There is no change in the annual comparison, where the seasonally adjusted growth estimates for the first and second quarter remain at 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively. Seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter growth has however been revised, from 0.8% to 0.2% for the first quarter, and from 1.3% to 1.1% for the second quarter.

No operator found for Maribor Airport

MARIBOR - The Infrastructure Ministry has not found a contractor that would take over management of Maribor Airport. It received one bid, only one joint offer by flight school SIDrone and locksmith Ključavničarstvo Kunc, which met all the tender requirements. However, he ministry found that SIDrone was unable to provide a positive financial plan so the contract was not concluded. The state-owned consulting and management company DRI will continue to manage the airport until the end of 2024.

Survey unemployment stagnates in August, down y/y

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's survey unemployment rate remained at 3.5% in August, the same as the month before. Year-on-year, it dropped by 0.4 percentage points, data from the Statistics Office shows. The office estimates some 36,000 persons aged 15 to 74 were out of a job in August, 56% of which were men and 44% women.

Minister advocates strong and resilient cohesion policy

MURCIA, Spain - Participating in a two-day informal meeting of EU ministers Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Aleksander Jevšek called for efforts for a strong, resilient and flexible cohesion policy that he believes should be the EU's main long-term investment policy, his ministry said. He also thanked EU member states for their help and expressions of solidarity in the aftermath of devastating floods that hit Slovenia in early August.