Slovenia gets tough on budget deficit with mass sell-off Slovenia has decided to bite the bullet to avoid a bailout as its budget deficit soars this year to 7.8 percent and it struggles to pay its bills. The decision has been made to sell off 15 of the country's biggest companies, raise VAT, slash the budget deficit by more than half by next year, and strike a public sector pay deal. The company sell-off includes the national airline and the capital's airport, the second-biggest bank, and the biggest telecoms operator. Cutting public spending will be crucial to meeting these targets which, said the prime minister, were to ensure Slovenia remained "a sovereign state." More about: Austerity, Debt crisis, European Union, Slovenia, Slovenia politics