May 5 (SeeNews) - Slovenia's government said it expects the country's economic output to decrease by 8.1% in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the current extraordinary situation, budget revenues are expected to fall and expenditures to rise this year, resulting in a budget deficit equivalent to 8.1% of the projected GDP, while public debt is seen reaching 82.4% of GDP by the end of 2020, the government said in a statement last week when it adopted its 2020 Stability Programme and 2020 National Reforms Programme.
The finance ministry will now send the two documents to the European Commission, the government said. Each EU member state prepares every year a stability programme that includes a multi-year macroeconomic and fiscal framework and a national reform programme in response to recommendations made by the European Commission.
However, since this year's Stability Programme was drafted in the very uncertain times of the coronavirus outbreak, it is focused on 2020 only and does not include any medium-term projections.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Slovenian economy will contract by 8% this year, hit by the coronavirus crisis, and will partly recover next year, recording 5% growth.
In March, the central bank warned that the coronavirus pandemic will take a higher toll on Slovenia's economy than the 2008 financial crisis did, with the GDP estimated to shrink by between 6.2% and 16.1% in 2020.