LJUBLJANA: Slovenia will have a plan ready to put to parliament in two weeks to sell off state assets, probably including a bank, the country’s prime minister said yesterday as her government races to avert a bailout.
In her first major news conference in Ljubljana since taking office last month, Alenka Bratusek said her government would also send a ‘stability programme’ to European Union partners in Brussels by May 9 “at the latest”.
The head of Slovenia’s largest bank, state-owned NLB, said yesterday he did not expect the bank could be sold this year but finding a buyer would be possible in 2014 if the bank is recapitalised and restructured.
The tiny ex-communist country is coming under increasing pressure from financial markets after the messy bailout of Cyprus last month, raising concerns it could be the next euro zone country to need rescuing.
The country of two million people needs to raise about ¤3bn ($3.9bn) this year to recapitalise its biggest state-owned banks, repay maturing debt and cover its budget deficit.
Yields on its 10-year benchmark bond rose to 6.61 percent yesterday — closer to the 7 percent threshold at which a country’s finances can become unsustainable.
Reuters
