LJUBLJANA, June 24 (Reuters) - Slovenia plans to counter-balance economic risks from Britain’s decision to leave the European Union by improving the efficiency of its public sector, pursuing privatisation and attracting more foreign investors, a deputy prime minister said on Friday.

The minister, Boris Koprivnikar, who is also a minister of public administration, said Britain’s ‘Brexit’ move would force Slovenia to pay even greater attention to public finances in order to reach its goal of reducing the budget deficit.

“We need to adapt to conditions on the markets by effective management of public finance mechanisms,” Koprivnikar said in an interview.

Exports, which amounted to 24 billion euros last year, are the main driver of the Slovenian economy and could suffer if Britain’s decision hurt Slovenia’s main economic partners which include Germany, Italy, France and Austria.

On Thursday the government said the budget deficit should fall to 1.6 percent of GDP in 2017 and 1 percent in 2018 versus a deficit of about 2.2 percent seen this year.

Last year Slovenia managed to cut budget deficit to below 3 percent of GDP, as required of EU members, for the first time in seven years.

According to Koprivnikar, the deficit targets should be met although public sector wages are due to increase by some 2.5 percent in 2017 after an increase of about 5 percent this year, in line with earlier agreements with trade unions.

He also said Slovenia will continue with privatisation to attract strategic investors which will improve the performance of its companies.

Over the past decades the country refused to sell a number of its major banks and companies so the government still controls about 50 percent of the economy.

The biggest sale that is due to start this year is the initial public offering of shares of largest bank Nova Ljubljanska Banka.