The National Bank of Slovenia was originally established in 1971 as part of the
System of National Banks which replaced the
National Bank of Yugoslavia (NBJ) as Yugoslavia's collective monetary authority. The legal framework was finalized under Slovenian law in 1973-1976 within the Yugoslav federal system. In early 1991, during the early phase of the
breakup of Yugoslavia, the National Bank of Slovenia started preparations to introduce a separate currency to replace the
dinar, following revelations of capture of the NBJ by Serbian politicians. Slovenian legislation reorganizing and renaming the National Bank as the Bank of Slovenia entered into force on , the same day as Slovenia's declaration of independence which triggered the
Ten-Day War. The Slovenian tolar was subsequently introduced as national currency on . The Bank of Slovenia is a non-governmental independent institution, obliged to periodically present a report on its operation to the
National Assembly of Slovenia. Its primary task is to take care of the stability of the domestic currency and to ensure the liquidity of payments within the country and with foreign countries. It also acts as the supervisor of the banking system. The bank is headquartered in a prominent building in the center of
Ljubljana, erected in 1920-1923 for the
Ljubljana Credit Bank.
2011 Banking Crisis Unlike the
Baltic states of
Eastern Europe, Slovenia maintained very strong state control over its banks after joining the
European Union. This created an ecosystem of cross-lending between public banks and government-linked companies. When the
2008 global financial crisis finally hit Slovenia's economy, the system collapsed. The Slovenian state had to inject more than €3 billion into its own banks to prevent technical bankruptcy in 2013. Many public banks were privatized in the aftermath of the crisis. On March 22, 2018, Boštjan Jazbec announced his resignation as governor of the Bank of Slovenia, citing threats against his life. This followed his refusal to support the political authorities' decision to
bail out the bankers during the 2011 crisis through the central bank. In October 2019, Boštjan Vasle clashed with
parliament when a law was passed requiring the central bank to compensate bondholders of banks bailed out in December 2013. == Governors ==