The PEP is a binding document which European Union admission candidates submit to the European Commission every year and in which they define their economic policies and the reforms necessary to join the Union.
Croatia, which became an admission candidate in June, is submitting its first PEP.
The document focuses on the main economic movements, a macroeconomic programme, public finance, and structural reforms.
Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said the PEP was a realistic and ambitious programme which could be realised over the next three years. He recalled that Croatia's goal was to be ready for joining the EU in 2007.
Finance Minister Ivan Suker said the PEP represented the sublimation of this year's events and documents, from the Government's fiscal projection, the arrangement with the International Monetary Fund, to documents being prepared with the World Bank as part of the Programmatic Adjustment Loan.
Speaking of the slowing down of the growth of the external debt, Suker said the debt was reduced by EUR140 million in September and October.
He said the recently adopted national budget for 2005 contributed greatly to financial consolidation because the national deficit was reduced from 6.3 percent to 3.7 percent of GDP.
According to PEP projections, the GDP is expected to grow 3.9 percent this year and between four and five percent in the next three years, while the external debt is expected to stabilise at 80 percent of GDP, and then drop to 79 percent.
The structural reforms defined in the PEP refer to privatisation, market competition, the energy sector, transport and communications, the agricultural policy, the social security system, measures in the health sector, the judicial reform, and the reforms of the education and science sectors.
According to the document, plans for the 2005-08 period envisage the building of 315 km of new state roads, the renovation of 975 km of existing roads, and the continuation of the modernisation of railroads.
Minister Suker said Croatia would submit its first fiscal report to the European Commission in February, with data on the fiscal deficit and the public debt in accordance with European standards.