Slovenia Won't Seek International Bailout: Premier Jansa

Slovenia won’t become the sixth euro region nation to seek financial assistance, Prime Minister Janez Jansa said in an interview with a local radio station.

“Such a danger was eliminated when we adopted and enacted the legislation to balance public finances,” Jansa told Maribor, Slovenia-based Radio City. “The only unknown is the banks, but even with banks, I don’t see a reason for Slovenia to plead for help.”

Due diligence at Slovenian lenders has yet to be completed, Jansa said. He cited a decision by European Union leaders at a summit last month that enables aid to banks without burdening the government “if the situation demanded it,” he said, according to the Slovenian radio station.

Economists from London to Warsaw have said Slovenia is on course to follow Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus in seeking a bailout for its ailing banking industry. The government in May adopted austerity measures worth about 800 million euros ($1 billion) to cut the budget deficit, which advanced to 6.4 percent of total output at the end of last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Boris Cerni in Ljubljana at bcerni@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net