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President of the Republic of Slovenia proposes Mr Mitja Gaspari for the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia
Ljubljana, 12/29/2006 | press release
President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Janez Drnovšek, proposed today to the National Assembly to appoint Mr Mitja Gaspari Governor of the Bank of Slovenia.
The letter sent by President Drnovšek to the National Assembly gives information on the candidate and grounds for the proposal:
At the beginning of October 2006, the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia notified me that his six-year term of office expires on 31 March 2007. Therefore, a call for proposals referring to possible candidates for the vacancy of the governor of the Bank of Slovenia was published in the Official Gazette of the RS, No 111/06 of 27 October 2006.
I decided to propose to the National Assembly to appoint Mr Mitja Gaspari governor of the Bank of Slovenia.
The candidate, Mr Mitja Gaspari, has in his previous six-year term of office as the governor of the Bank of Slovenia proved that he possesses all the necessary skills, experience and personal qualities required to run this important institution.
The very fact that Slovenia is the only one among the new EU-10 member states capable of adopting euro on 1 January 2007 is a sufficient evidence for the efficiency of the convergence process supplemented by economic policies oriented towards the development and provision of stability. Certainly, this is also the result of Mr Gaspari's successful work, which was indeed constantly and closely linked with the monetary policy and the financial system of the Republic of Slovenia.
The work at the Central Bank represents a significant part of Mr Gaspari's career. First, he was head of the department of analyses and then director of the analysis and research centre, his next post being vice-governor for the information system. In 1988, he became Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia. The next step in his career was a post at the World Bank. In June 1992, Mr Gaspari took over the Ministry of Finance in the Government of the Republic of Slovenia. In March 2001, he was elected Governor of the Bank of Slovenia for a six-year term.
During his term of office the Bank of Slovenia significantly contributed to the ultimate goal implying that the Republic of Slovenia, as the first and the sole new EU member state to do so, would introduce a single European currency on January 1, 2007.
The soundness of the adopted decisions and policies of the Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia chaired by Mr Gaspari has also been confirmed by the fulfilment of all convergence criteria in a sustainable manner and a two-year maintenance of a stable market exchange rate of tolar against euro with minimum fluctuations around the agreed central parity value.
The above mentioned is also witnessed by the convergence reports issued by the European Commission and the ECB. They both established that it had been the very framework of controlling the monetary policy, which had significantly contributed to the gradual development of disinflation after 2000. The unanimous EU Council approval of the input conversion ratio to irrevocably function as the output parity confirms that the selected exchange rate was congruent with the maintenance of the internal and external balance.
Headed by Mr Mitja Gaspari, the Bank of Slovenia was also successful in achieving the convergence of interest rates with those in the euro area without compromising the achieved macro-economic balance.
Under Mr Gaspari's authority, the Bank of Slovenia was successful and efficient in providing the stability of the banking system. There are also other aspects to be emphasised, notably the control of the preparations for the technical introduction of euro in the banking system, the co-operation with the Government of the Republic of Slovenia in co-ordinating these preparations at the national level, statistical and other methodological adaptation to the ECB standards and, last but not least, the inclusion of the Bank of Slovenia in the system of the European central banks.
In the light of the above mentioned I am convinced that Mr Mitja Gaspari is an adequate choice for the governor of the Bank of Slovenia. Mr Gaspari possesses all the necessary skills, experience and personal qualities to continue his successful work at home, and as a reputable and internationally acknowledged expert, he will be able to further adopt decisions in the Governing Council of the ECB at the highest professional level and in accordance with Slovenia's interests.
Mr Mitja Gaspari consents to the candidacy.
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Office of the President of the Republic
Erjavčeva 17
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
phone: +386 1 478 12 22
fax: +386 1 478 13 57
gp.uprs@up-rs.si
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