Year-on-year growth in Slovenian industrial producer prices has been hovering just above 1% in the first months of the year. The growth of commodity prices continues to ease, which is reflected in lower year-on-year growth than in 2018. Energy price growth on the domestic market has increased in the last few months (owing to higher prices in electricity supply). Price growth on foreign markets is lower than on the domestic market, in our assessment also as a consequence of the moderation in foreign demand.

The surplus of the current account of the balance of payments remains high. In the twelve months to January it totalled EUR 3.4 billion (6.9% of estimated GDP). The higher surplus in current transactions relative to the previous 12-month period continued to arise from a higher surplus in services trade, especially trade in transport services and net inflows from travel, and a smaller deficit in primary income related to lower external debt servicing costs and higher net inflows of labour income. Meanwhile, the surplus in goods trade was lower, while net outflows of secondary income were higher, which was lowering the surplus. Net outflows of secondary income were marked especially by higher payments into the EU budget.