On 1 June the European Central Bank celebrates the 25th anniversary of its founding, which was one of the major milestones in the process of European integration into a single market with a common currency. Slovenia became part of the euro area when it joined the euro in 2007, since which we have helped to shape euro area monetary policy for its 350 million inhabitants. In marking the anniversary Boštjan Vasle, Governor of Banka Slovenije, highlighted the importance of the central bank independence in shaping monetary policy, which is one of the great institutional achievements in the area of economic policy.

EURIBOR for all maturities has gradually increased this year as well. The six-month ali rate ali EURIBOR amounted to 3.50% in April 2023, which is 0.94 percentage points more than at the end of 2022.

Following last year’s high growth, the economy slowed as expected in the early part of this year, but remained in decent shape. Economic growth continues to be mainly driven by domestic demand, which is being reflected in particular in services (other than retail) and construction. Net exports thus made a positive contribution to GDP growth, mainly in connection with the realisation of past orders and the resulting sharp run-down of inventories.