By Marja Novak
LJUBLJANA, June 6 (Reuters) - The Slovenian Fiscal Council, a body that advises the government on public finances, said the government should increase efforts to reduce public debt while the country enjoys strong economic growth.
The Slovenian economy expanded rapidly after the country joined the European Union in 2004 and adopted the euro in 2007, but it was badly hit by the global financial crisis that began in 2008. It barely avoided an international bailout for its banks in 2013.
"(Public) spending has to be limited in a way to form reserves and speed up reduction of state debt," the council said in a report on Tuesday.
In the years that followed the onset of the financial crisis, Slovenia's public debt almost quadrupled, growing to 83 percent of GDP in 2015 from 21.8 percent in 2008.
The government plans to reduce debt to 77 percent of GDP this year from about 80 percent in 2016 and then over the years gradually bring it to below 60 percent of GDP, the maximum level allowed for euro zone members.
The council also said the latest figures show that Slovenia's GDP growth this year may be above 3.6 percent, as forecast by the government's macroeconomic institute in March, which could lead to overheating of the economy.
Last week, the statistics office reported Slovenia's GDP expanded by 5.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the strongest growth in almost 10 years, mainly because of robustinvestment and exports .
(Reporting By Marja Novak, editing by Larry King)
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