(ANSA) - LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's citizens and businesses received Swiss franc loans amounting to about 794 million euro. Most of this amount (743 million euros) consists of loans which cover the purchase of real estates. These data were released by the Slovenian Central Bank, after the Swiss National Bank scrapped its three-year-old cap on the franc against the euro on Thursday.

However, this amount is much lower than the sum received shortly before the financial crisis in late 2008 and early 2009, when the Swiss franc loans to Slovenian citizens amounted to 1.4 billion euros . The decrease in the value credit started to occur from 2011 onwards.

The unexpected decision of the Swiss National Bank has created a lot of panic in the Slovenian financial world due to the increase in loan installments, since abandoning the cap against the euro resulted in an increase of the Swiss currency's value by about 20% . The Slovenian consumers' association (SPA) has therefore asked the Finance Minister Dusan Mramor to take the measures which are necessary to protect Slovenian debtors.

(ANSA).