December 14 (SeeNews) - Slovenia's central bank said on Wednesday it expects the country's economy to expand by a real 2.2% in 2016 and by 2.5% next year.
Slovenia's GDP growth is projected to reach a four-year high of 2.6% in 2018, before returning to moderate growth of 2.5% in 2019, the central bank said in a bulletin.
"The main driver of GDP growth over the forecast horizon will gradually become the final consumption of households driven by favourable labour market conditions and rising salaries in the government sector," the central bank noted.
Private consumption growth is estimated at 2% by the end of the year, before picking up to 2.2% next year and 2.3% in 2018, where it is predicted to remain for the following year.
Government consumption, on the other hand, is expected to expand by 2.5% at the end of 2016, before slowing down to 1.2% over the next two years and returning to a moderate 1.4% growth in 2019.
Gross fixed capital formation, which is seen down 4.8% in 2016, will rebound to 4.4% growth in 2017 before stabilising at 4.0% increase in 2018 and 3.7% the year after.
In 2015, Slovenia's economy grew 2.3%, down from a 3.1% growth a year earlier.