News roundup - Thursday, 27 February, until 3pm

EBRD downgrades Slovenia's 2025 GDP growth forecast from 2.6% to 2%

LONDON, UK - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) downgraded its GPD growth forecast for Slovenia for this year, as it did for the broader region in which it operates. For Slovenia, the 2025 growth forecast has been adjusted from 2.6% to 2%, primarily due to subdued domestic demand, while the country's economy is expected to expand by 2.4% in 2026 if trade-related risks do not materialise.

Govt think tank slightly downgrades Slovenia's 2025 GDP forecast to 2.1%

LJUBLJANA - IMAD, the government's macroeconomic forecaster, downgraded the GDP growth forecast for this year from 2.4% to 2.1%. For next year it reduced the forecast by 0.2 points, to 2.4%. Average annual inflation is expected to stand at 2.3% this year. Growth this year is projected to outpace the 1.6% that the Statistics Office recently assessed was recorded in 2024. However, despite this acceleration, the pace remains slightly weaker than previously anticipated in autumn, IMAD acting head Maja Bednaš told the press.

Anti-graft watchdog refers defector MP case to police

LJUBLJANA - The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) said it had referred a case involving allegations against MP Tine Novak, who left the ruling Freedom Movement's deputy group a month ago to form a new deputy group alongside Anže Logar and Eva Irgl, former members of the opposition Democratic Party (SDS). The watchdog had been looking into cooperation between Logar and Novak after the former said that he had helped Novak with his connections to get the post of OSCE special envoy for artificial intelligence. Speculations arose then whether this was a case of quid pro quo.

Choirmaster and conductor Mirko Cuderman dies

LJUBLJANA - Conductor, choirmaster, musicologist and Prešeren Prize laureate Mirko Cuderman died at the age of 94. With his work he raised amateur choral music to the level of professional musicians, the choral music magazine Naši Zbori wrote. He received several awards for his work. In addition to the Prešeren Prize for lifetime achievement in 2022, he also received the Župančič Prize (1993), the Order of Freedom (2001) and the Order of Merit (2007).

Slovenian artists part of exhibition on freeing voices in Graz

GRAZ, Austria - The exhibition Freeing the Voices by Slovenian curator Zdenka Badovinac is opening at the Kunsthaus Graz in Austria tonight. The exhibition, which aims to free the individual and collective voices, will feature three Slovenian artists - Ida Hiršenfelder, Irena Z. Tomažin and Tao G. Vrhovec Sambolec. Works of more than 20 artists and collectives will be featured at the exhibition, which was co-curated by Martin Grabner. It will run until 24 August.