Speaking to the press after a session of the Economic and Social Council (GSV) on Wednesday, Suker said the common task of the Government, trade unions and employers was to find a way to use available funds more economically.
Boris Kunst of the Association of Trade Unions endorsed the draft budget in principle, but said the unions were disgruntled with the amount of funds for salaries, employment, education and science.
The unions estimate that the salaries of civil servants and employers might fall in real terms in relation to salaries in the economic sector, and that their lagging behind the latter might rise from the current 12 to 20 percent.
The unions are unhappy with the fact that funds for education and science have been decreased from 4.2 to 3.9 percent of GDP. Council of Public Service Workers Unions vice president Vilim Ribic said the decrease would prolong the difficult situation in the education sector and showed the Government was unwilling to carry out the necessary reforms.
Ribic said Croatia's six union federations concluded at a meeting before today's GSV session that the 2005 draft budget was unacceptable because it was not sufficiently development-oriented and maintained the status quo among interest groups.
Croatian Employers Association director Djuro Popijac did not say whether he approved of the draft budget or not, but stated that a 91 billion kuna budget meant that public spending would continue to grow. He said national spending must be cut and that investments should be made into development programmes.
(EUR1 = 7.5 kuna)