This growth is based on the increased industrial output and overall economic activities, as well as on the growth in the financial market, Sanader told reporters in the Finance Ministry where he on Friday carried out the last transaction from this year's budget and held a news briefing on the economic performance of the government in 2006.
"If the budgetary deficit is three percent of GDP, which means that it has been lower than projected, if we successfully completed the stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund and did not extend it nor did we plan a new one, if our credit rating has been several times this year enhanced by four leading global agencies, then we definitely can be satisfied," Sanader said.
He also expressed satisfaction with the payment of two installments of the debt to pensioners without any major macroeconomic negative shifts and announced the service of the other two installments in 2007.
In 2007, the Sanader cabinet will continue with commitments to strengthen the economic growth, cut the budgetary deficit below three percent, enhance the country's export potential and reduce the unemployment.
In this context the premier recalled that 2006 saw the lowest unemployment rate of 11 percent in the last several years.
This means the there were less than 280,000 jobless Croatians, and Sanader pledged to continue with good trends in this field.