Slovenia's 2009 GDP to drop 2.7 pct.

Slovenia's gross domestic product will drop 2.7 percent for all of 2009, while in 2010 the economy will recover and rise 1.4 percent, economists said.

The GDP decline was mainly caused by a drop in exports due to a financial crisis in the euro-zone and stricter borrowing conditions which hurt Slovenia's open economy, seriously hit by the global economic crisis, the Slovenian news agency STA (OOTC:SRPIF) said Monday, quoting a report by the International Monetary Fund.

In 2009, Slovenia's trade, production and investments declined drastically, while unemployment and the public debt went up.

The country's unemployment is likely to reach 6.2 percent this year, compared with 4.4 percent in 2008, and in 2010 is expected to drop to 6.1 percent.

IMF experts forecast Slovenian annual inflation in 2009 will be 0.5 percent, a considerable improvement when compared with 5.7 percent in 2008. In 2010, the inflation would be 1.5 percent.