Written by Dr. Ales Pustovrh – Bogatin, EECFA Slovenia
The COVID-19 pandemic has reached the Slovenian construction industry in a good shape. New construction contracts strengthened in H2 2019, resulting in some of the fastest growth of construction in early 2020 in the whole EU. The activity continued into March 2020 even though the lockdown measures were already implemented.
However, a decline is expected as halting construction works are affecting the entire sector:
- There are some disruptions in the supply of materials as some manufacturers have stopped production and others have reduced production.
- Construction work is being done less intensively mainly because of measures to protect workers.
- Some foreign contractors have problems mainly with the logistics of their workers on projects in Slovenia.
Yet, the construction industry has been relatively less affected than some other industries (like tourism) as most large projects continue even during the lockdown measures. The concern is the absence of real estate contracts as the risk of making long-term investment decisions has also increased.
We are planning to issue the new EECFA Slovenia Construction Forecast Report on 29 June 2020. Sample report and order
Economic damage to construction segments will crucially depend on the duration of the crisis and the uncertainty it brings. According to some estimates, the short-term crisis is expected to result in a 5% drop in GDP. First indications that the return to normal operation of the Slovenian economy is near were the announcements that several lockdown measures were to be relaxed by the end of April 2020. Nevertheless, the actual fall of the economic activity will depend on the effectiveness of the state’s actions, where Slovenian politicians have promised one of the largest stimulus packages in the EU (estimated at more than 6% of its GDP) but they will have to be implemented in an effective way.