Last year's budgetary deficit will definitely be slightly higher than planned (4.5 percent), but the IMF is not making any problems about it, Suker said at the opening of reconstruction works on the Bregana border crossing between Slovenia and Croatia.
Suker conveyed IMF officials' statement that last year Croatia made major fiscal efforts to reduce the current balance of payments deficit and the budgetary deficit from 6.3 percent in 2003 to 4.8 or 4.9 of GDP in 2004. The 2004 budgetary deficit will definitely not be five percent, Suker repeated.
The projected deficit for last year is 4.5 percent of GDP.
Suker confirmed that negotiations with the IMF would be continued in May.
There has been a slight drop in revenue, especially of excise taxes at the end of last year, so agreement was reached with the IMF to follow developments in the first four months of this year and then continue the negotiations, Suker said.
If the collection of revenue is improved, there will be no need to introduce any measures, but if not, some measures will probably have to be introduced, Suker said, adding that it was too early to say if and what kind of measures would be introduced.
The minister said that the collection of revenue and contributions was going well.
Commenting on assessments that income tax revenue could be lower this year, Suker said that in the first two months of this year income tax revenue was six percent higher than at the same time last year.
He added though that there were some problems with the collection of revenue, primarily of excise taxes on oil products and tobacco, as well as with the collection of VAT. Those are the main reasons for the reinstatement of the financial police, Suker said.
He stressed that the official goal of the incumbent government this year was a budgetary deficit of 3.7 percent.