The head of Slovenia's central bank,
Bostjan Jazbec, has said it will consider asking for outside help if the
country's funding costs stay high. He also said Slovenia's GDP would shrink by 2.6% this year, more than April's
1.9% forecast.
Slovenia's banks are largely state-owned and saddled with bad loans worth
22.5% of its GDP.
Mr Jazbec's comments are likely to fuel speculation over whether Slovenia
will be bailed out by the EU.
Still hope
Mr. Jazbec said he would consider asking for aid if yields on Slovenia's bonds
remained high.
During a news conference, he said the country was doing everything it could
to bring its funding costs down.
"If that is not successful, then there is a possibility to ask for help
within various programmes," he added.
Meanwhile, Slovenia's Prime Minister, Alenka Bratusek, has admitted to
parliament the amount needed to rescue the banks is "completely unknown".
But Ms Bratusek told STA, the state-owned news agency: "We are very intensely
preparing measures that are needed, so as to avoid asking for help."
The results of the bank's stress-tests, out at the end of November, will
indicate whether or not a bailout is needed.
Eurozone members can ask for help from the European Stability Mechanism, set
up in 2012.
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Until now, the president has said he would only negotiate if Republicans agreed to lift both threats – extending the debt limit and passing a continuing resolution without strings attached.
Boehner and other Republicans are due to meet Obama at the White House on Thursday afternoon, and hope that their short-term offer on the debt ceiling might enough to persuade the president to drop his demand to end the shutdown first.
"We are hopeful that that this is the beginning of meaningful discussions," said Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the Republican House conference.
The White House gave a cautious welcome to the Republican offer, but stressed it would need to see the exact wording before deciding whether it was enough to proceed with formal talks. The president is "happy that cooler heads seem to be prevailing," said spokesman Jay Carney. "We would prefer to see a longer term resolution," he added.
Republicans have been under intense pressure from business leaders and donors to avoid a possible US default by removing the debt ceiling threat from their arsenal. But there is no guarantee that the more conservative Republicans in Boehner's caucus will support it.
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