CROATIA'S GDP GROWTH FASTER THAN IN SURROUNDING COUNTRIES

ZAGREB, March 20 (Hina) - In the first three quarters of 2002, GDP in Croatia saw a real growth of five percent compared to the same period last year. Data issued by Eurostat indicate that GDP in European Union (EU-15) countries rose 0.8 percent in the same period. #L# The data on Croatia's GDP for the entire last year will be known at the end of March. However, according to indicators published to date, it seems that the slowing down of GDP growth in global economy did not affect the increase of Croatia's. The Croatian Gross Domestic Product growth was based on a rise in domestic demand -- personal consumption increased by 6.3% and investments by 11.4 percent. On the other hand, the growth has been slowed down by increased government spending by a real 1.7% in the first three quarters, as well as by net export movements -- exports increased by 1.6% and imports by eight percent in real terms. Information about the growth of GDP in the EU in the first nine months of 2002 shows that personal consumption grew by 1.1%, government spending by 2.8% and exports 0.2 percent. Investments into fixed capital dropped by 3.3 percent, as did imports, by 1.1 percent. (hina) lml sb