Mitja Gaspari is a Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

n economist

Economist

An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...

, banker, and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He is currently serving as Minister for Economic Development in the centre left government of Borut Pahor

Borut Pahor

Borut Pahor is a Slovenian politician who has been Prime Minister of Slovenia since 2008. A longtime president of the Social Democrats party, Pahor served several terms as a member of the National Assembly and was its chairman from 2000 to 2004. In 2004, Pahor was elected as member of the European...

.

Gaspari was born in Ljubljana

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

. He studied economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 at the University of Ljubljana

University of Ljubljana

The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. With 64,000 enrolled graduate and postgraduate students, it is among the largest universities in Europe.-Beginnings:...

 and has graduated in monetary economics from the University of Belgrade

University of Belgrade

The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...

 Faculty of Economics

University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics

The University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics is one of the educational institutions of the University of Belgrade, Serbia. The building is located in the city center of Belgrade...

. He worked in the National Bank of Yugoslavia, where he became vice-governor in 1988. In September 1991, he became a senior advisor in the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

. Between 1992 and 2000, he served as Slovenian Minister of Economy in the governments of Janez Drnovšek

Janez Drnovšek

Janez Drnovšek was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Prime Minister of Slovenia and President of Slovenia . He was born in Celje, Slovenia, then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia...

. Although he was considered close to the ruling Liberal Democracy of Slovenia

Liberal Democracy of Slovenia

Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is a liberal political party in Slovenia. It is led by Katarina Kresal and is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party...

, he never joined the party.

Gaspari served as the governor of the Bank of Slovenia

Bank of Slovenia

The Bank of Slovenia is the bank of issue and the central bank of the Republic of Slovenia. Based in Ljubljana, it was established on 25 June 1991. Its primary task is to take care of the stability of the domestic currency and to ensure the liquidity of payments within the country and with...

 between 2001 and 2007. During his mandate, Slovenia adopted the euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

 as its official currency.

Gaspari was among the candidates at the 2007 Slovenian presidential election

Slovenian presidential election, 2007

The 2007 Slovenian presidential election was held in order to elect the successor to the second President of Slovenia Janez Drnovšek for a five-year term...

, supported by the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia

Liberal Democracy of Slovenia

Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is a liberal political party in Slovenia. It is led by Katarina Kresal and is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party...

. He received 24.09% of votes in the first round, finishing third.

In 2008, he was appointed Minister for Economic Development in the left wing government of Borut Pahor

Borut Pahor

Borut Pahor is a Slovenian politician who has been Prime Minister of Slovenia since 2008. A longtime president of the Social Democrats party, Pahor served several terms as a member of the National Assembly and was its chairman from 2000 to 2004. In 2004, Pahor was elected as member of the European...

.