The business newspaper Finance criticises the government for deciding to cut expenditure by EUR 100 million in this year's budget as a measure to counter the projected slow-down of economic growth, while presenting no reforms or measures for spending public money more efficiently.

The decision by Damir Črnčec, a state secretary in the prime minister's office, to employ the head of the Krško office of Westinghouse as director of his private institute has come under media scrutiny as there is suspicion Črnčec might influence PM Marjan Šarec into picking Westinghouse to supply equipment for the Krško Nuclear Power Plant.

A Slovenian-Indian business forum was held in Ljubljana on Monday to discuss opportunities for deepening ties and establishing new ones between the countries, with potential for cooperation identified in logistics, infrastructure, automotive industry and tourism.

The SBI TOP index of blue chips on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange closed 0.33% higher at 858.87 points on Monday, boosted by a 1.76% rise in the issue of energy company Petrol. The busiest item, the issue of pharma company Krka was flat on EUR 405,350 in volumes. Overall, EUR 1.19 million worth of shares and bonds changed hands.

Ljubljana is hosting an international conference on smart cities on Monday. Opening the event, Jadran Lenarčič, the boss of the country's top research institution, the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS), said that Slovenia's smallness can be a great advantage when it came to research and tech development.

Coatings group Helios generated EUR 401.5 million in sales revenue last year, up 3% from the year before. Net profit topped EUR 16 million despite a challenging market situation, which was a result of international trade sanctions.

GMT, the biggest car parts dealer in Slovenia, has been reaffirming its leading role in lubricants and spare car parts in the region, recording an average annual growth of 10%. The group, which has taken over the companies I.S.T. Avtodeli and Austria's AR Regnemer, expects its revenue to top EUR 100 million this year.