Some opposition MPs claimed that the draft budget revision would serve only promotional purposes of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
Zeljka Antunovic of the Social Democrats (SDP) accused the government of failing to base the revision on an objective analysis of the trends in the economy.
She wondered why about 2.5 billion kuna which should be allocated to pensioners by the end of this year as an installment in paying debts to them was not registered as part of the fiscal deficit.
Responding to her criticism, Finance Minister Ivan Suker said the debt would be financed from proceeds from the privatisation of the Croatian Telekom (HT) explaining that the income from the privatisation was not treated as budgetary revenues.
That's why I can see no reason to treat the debt to pensioners as a part of the 2006 deficit, the minister said.
While some opposition parties criticised the government for failing to invest into development, MPs of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) supported the budget revision.