Although the general slowdown of the economy in the wake of the international financial crisis also affected Slovenia in 2008, the economic growth of 3.8 % remained on a relatively stable level. The difficult last quarter in particular had a significant impact in the industrial and financial sectors, causing far-reaching ripple effects on the export sector. Historically a very competitive sector, banking in Slovenia benefited in 2008 from a higher demand for loans, especially in the first half of the year. However, it was hit at the same time by the effects of the sub-prime crisis in the USA, which led to a tense situation in the financial market and slowed down the market in general.

Similar effects and factors were observed in the very well-developed leasing market in Slovenia, where a decrease occurred throughout all the segments on an all-year basis. Most leading leasing companies are owned by banks.