What will Slovenia bring the eurozone after its entry on January 1? The 13th member of the currency bloc will account for just 0.3 per cent of eurozone gross domestic product and will not have any significant economic impact. But Slovenia will have a representative on the European Central Bank’s interest-rate setting governing council and, in theory, its central bank governor, Mitja Gaspari, will have as much influence as Axel Weber of Germany’s Bundesbank.

In the run up to eurozone entry, Mr Gaspari gained a reputation as a “hawk”, somebody more likely to favour raising borrowing costs. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, he hinted strongly that he thought eurozone interest rates – currently the ECB has set its main rate at 3.5 per cent – were too low for Slovenia. “Maybe it would be better at 4 [per cent] but 3.5 per cent is better than 3,” he said.