Review of Slovenia's Economy from 9 to 15 November

Ljubljana, 17 November - The week saw heated developments in agriculture following a milk scandal and the discovery of a banned antibiotic in the milk of 16 out of 171 collection units in Slovenia. While the Slovenian Veterinary Administration (VURS) decided that every milk producer will have to analyse milk at least once a month for the presence of Chloramphenicol, the government allocated EUR 480,000 (SIT 110m) of compensation to farmers whose milk would test free from harmful substances. Milk scandal has also echoed abroad, as Bosnia and Macedonia both introduced a temporary ban on the import of milk and milk products from Slovenia, while the Croatian authorities announced the introduction of more rigorous testing of Slovenian milk products. The central bank has revealed that it raised its inflation forecasts for the current and upcoming years. It now expects 2002 inflation to total 7.5 percent, up 0.4 percentage points, while 2003 inflation was raised by 1.2 percentage points to 5.3 percent. Inflation is to be reduced below the desired four percent only in 2004, when a 3.4 percent rate is expected.