The main source of income for Banka Slovenije is interest from financial instruments and investment portfolios as part of the implementation of monetary policy of the eurozone, and its own investments in securities.
Net revenue from interest last year reached EUR 105.1m or 27.1m more than in 2016, according to the 2017 annual report that the central bank has sent to the National Assembly.
Banka Slovenije last year generated EUR 21.4m in revenue from the sale of securities and currency positions, while it made provisions of EUR 56.8m for the coverage of expenses related to currency rate, interest, credit, price and other risks.
Net commissions, revenue from ownership stakes, the net result of cash pooling as part of the central bank system of the eurozone and other revenue combined amounted to EUR 40.8m last year.
Operating costs meanwhile reached EUR 37.5m, up from EUR 33.1m in 2016. At the end of 2017, the central bank had 443 employees.
While the central bank transfers at least 25% of its annual surplus to the state budget, it had transferred 75% in the previous few years.
It provided EUR 43m in 2016, EUR 40.5m in 2015, and EUR 60m in 2014, while the total amount transferred to the state budget since 2013 stands at EUR 207.9m.
Banka Slovenije has 3.2 tonnes of gold in its reserves, with the value of gold reserves and claims in gold standing at EUR 111m at the end of 2017.
In the report, outgoing Governor Boštjan Jazbec noted that the Slovenian economy had made a transition last year from recovery to fast expansion, with the bank bailout at the end of 2013 being among the contributing factors.
The favourable economic situation also reflected on banks' performance last year, with all banks operating in Slovenia generating a total of EUR 447m in net profit.
The share of non-performing loans was down by 2.5 percentage points compared to 2016 to 5.99%, while the volume of loans to the non-banking sector was up by 4.8%. Capital adequacy ratio of the banking system reached 18.1%.
