ZAGREB, Dec 4 (Hina) - The new government should not have problems to pay back the country's debts next year, as the largest part for the payment of a total of 17.5 billion kuna of the debt the outgoing government had incurred in the
country and abroad, will be collected in the second half of 2004, the incumbent government's financial experts have said.
ZAGREB, Dec 4 (Hina) - The new government should not have problems
to pay back the country's debts next year, as the largest part for
the payment of a total of 17.5 billion kuna of the debt the outgoing
government had incurred in the country and abroad, will be
collected in the second half of 2004, the incumbent government's
financial experts have said. #L#
Next year, 8.6 million kuna of the domestic debt and 4.9 billion
kuna of the foreign debt are to be collected. This covers the
principal, and additional four billion kuna should be ensured for
paying interest rates.
The largest part of this sum is to be collected in the third and the
fourth quarter of 2004, an official in the finance ministry said on
Thursday.
At the end of January 2004, the government should pay about 100
million dollars to the Paris and London Clubs, and the funds for
this purpose have already been secured, the same source said. In
other words, one hundred million dollars from the Structural
Adjustment Loan (SAL) has not been used this year but it has been
transferred for the coming year to cover the said amount.
The financing of the State in the first three months of 2004 is
secured under a decision on temporary financing, made by the
parliament this autumn.
The incumbent finance ministry's personnel has prepared a draft
budget for 2004, and 80 percent of its items in spending are already
known.
The revenues, without the income from privatisation, are planned to
reach 76.9 billion kuna. The ministry believes that the revenues
can rise by additional four billion to some 81 billion kuna, on
condition that the current tax system would not be drastically
changed.
(hina) ms sb