ZAGREB, June 6 (Hina) - Last year saw the biggest rise in the Gross Domestic Product by 4.1 percent and by 9.1 percent in investment while inflation fell to the lowest rate of 2.6 percent in the past five years, said Croatian Deputy
Finance Minister Damir Kustrak at Thursday's session of the government which adopted a report on the execution of the state budget for 2001.
ZAGREB, June 6 (Hina) - Last year saw the biggest rise in the Gross
Domestic Product by 4.1 percent and by 9.1 percent in investment
while inflation fell to the lowest rate of 2.6 percent in the past
five years, said Croatian Deputy Finance Minister Damir Kustrak at
Thursday's session of the government which adopted a report on the
execution of the state budget for 2001. #L#
Speaking about the macroeconomic trends in 2001, Kustrak said the
rate of exchange of the Croatian national currency (kuna) was
stable and salaries rose really by 1.4 percent and nominally by 6.5
percent.
Exports increased by five (5) percent, but imports climbed by 14.7
percent, the deputy finance minister added.
As a result of the conversion of 12 European currencies into the
euro, 2001 was marked by an "explosive" surge of 53 percent in the
foreign-currency deposits in banks, he said.
The money supply increased by 31 percent without the influence of
inflation.
Commenting on unemployment, Kustrak said it climbed by 22 percent
according to the results of the national Bureau of Statistics, but
he advocated that international standards be applied in the
evaluation of the jobless rate in the future.
According to the report on the state budget's execution, budgetary
revenues came to 53.4 billion kuna (7.3 billion euro), and
expenditure to 57.2 billion (7.76 billion euro).
Revenues were generated by 100.7 percent, Kustrak said.
A budgetary deficit in cash totalled 3.7 billion kuna (0.5 billion
euro), accounting for 2.2 percent of GDP, and this was lower by 4.2
percent than planned. All the deficits of the consolidated state
budget came to 9.1 billion kuna or 1.24 billion euro (5.4 percent of
GDP), and were covered by debts and income from privatisation.
Kustrak explained that the said amounts in deficits were the result
of a smaller quantity of money gained from privatisation than
expected. However, Croatia fulfilled the basic criterion on the
deficit, set by a stand-by arrangement with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF).
The government forwarded the report to the parliament to discuss
it.
(hina) sb ms