December 2, 2012 LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) - Former Slovenia Prime Minister Boorut Pahor won the presidential election Sunday, calling for unity in the tiny EU nation where discontent has been mounting with government budget cuts and other austerity measures designed to avoid a bailout.
Sunday's vote came just days after anti-austerity protests in Ljubljana, the capital, erupted into clashes that left 15 people injured, triggering fears this normally placid Alpine nation of 2 million was heading into instability. Several hundred protesters waving banners gathered Sunday in the eastern town of Krsko, even as snow blanketed the country, disrupting traffic in some parts and contributing to a low election turnout. Slovenia, once an economic star among EU newcomers when it joined in 2004, has faced one of the worst recessions of the 17-nation eurozone. Its economy has shrunk more than 8 percent since 2009 and continues to decline, resulting in a sharp drop in living standards and a surge in unemployment, which now stands at about 12 percent. video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20576387 IMF country report on Slovenia, November 29, 2012: http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pn/2012/pn12134.htm http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2012/cr12319.pdf With a loss of more than 8 percent of GDP, Slovenia experienced the largest economic contraction since 2008 among euro area countries, excluding Greece. After independence in 1991, Slovenia grew steadily to achieve the highest income level in transition countries, but failed to complete structural reforms. A foreign-financed credit boom facilitated by euro adoption fueled a construction bubble and aggressive leveraging of the corporate sector, resulting in a rapid deterioration of the net international investment position (IIP). The 2008-09 crisis brought a sudden stop of capital inflows, an abrupt fall in GDP, a quick correction in the current account deficit, and broad stabilization of the IIP at levels which seem sustainable. [...] _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
