BERLIN (Thomson Financial) - Slovenian finance minister Andrej Bajuk said the country has had no problem with the current strength of the euro and that Slovenia's adoption of the single currency, which it joined in January this year, has been smooth.
Bajuk added that he expects the good growth levels in Europe to continue for the time being.
Asked whether there is an exchange rate level for the euro where it would becoming damaging for euro zone exports, Bajuk said theoretically there is -- but it is difficult to establish where it lies.
'It is important that all countries make every effort to ensure that the foreign exchange system reflects the current economic reality,' he added.
'Slovenia is a relatively small country which exports more than two thirds of what it produces and there have been no problems (with the strong euro),' he said at a briefing on the sidelines of the informal meeting of European finance ministers here.
He added that the transition to adopting the euro has been 'uneventful'.
'If you ask any Slovenian, it is as if we have had the euro for six years, the whole transition has been uneventful'.
He said the country's main concern when the euro was adopted was that it would lead to higher inflation, with retailers rounding up converted prices, but this failed to materialise and Slovenia actually experienced deflation in January, with CPI falling by 0.7 pct month-on-month.
He also reiterated comments made by finance ministers yesterday that countries should take advantage of the current strong euro zone economy to improve their public finances. jessica.mortimer@thomson.com jkm/fr COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.