ZAGREB, Oct 3 (Hina) - The benches of the ruling coalition during Thursday's parliamentary debate endorsed a report on the execution of the state budget in this year's first six months, while the opposition harshly criticised
it.
ZAGREB, Oct 3 (Hina) - The benches of the ruling coalition during
Thursday's parliamentary debate endorsed a report on the execution
of the state budget in this year's first six months, while the
opposition harshly criticised it. #L#
The opposition announced it would abstain or vote against the
report, objecting to the fact that the government subsidises state-
owned companies to the detriment of citizens' social rights.
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and Croatian Bloc (HB) benches
will not endorse the report and are agreed the government has
cheated the public with pre-electoral promises that it would not
subsidise and give state guarantees to state-owned companies
recording major losses.
Milan Kovac of the HB said he did not share at all Finance Minister
Mato Crkvenac's optimism regarding an economic growth in the coming
period. The macroeconomic environment does not point to it, he
said.
HDZ's Ivan Suker said the government should have spoken about the
losses of some six billion kuna (EUR811 million) which the pension
and health insurance funds recorded in this year's first half, as
well as that it should have indicated the measures it intended to
take to reduce them.
Suker was very concerned with the fact that the foreign debt had
grown from 46 billion to 68 billion kuna (EUR9.2 billion) between
December 1999 and June 2002. He said the HDZ could not endorse the
budget execution report as it failed to point to problems and ways
of resolving them.
The Social Liberals (HSLS) and the Democratic Centre (DC) will be
reserved regarding the report. They said the subsidising of public
companies was always doomed, that meagre funds were earmarked for
the work of the Office for the Prevention of Corruption and
Organised Crime, for the prevention of drug abuse and for formerly
war-torn areas, and that spending for children and mothers was
being decreased.
Vesna Skare-Ozbolt of the DC accused the government of being more
successful in restricting domestic production than in encouraging
economic development. As an example, she said that some five
billion kuna (EUR676 million) were planned to be earmarked for the
rehabilitation of public companies and the repayment of loans, and
that new indebtedness might be disastrous for "us and those coming
after us."
Damir Kajin of the ruling coalition's Istrian Democratic Assembly
(IDS) endorsed the report, saying he did not think Croatia might
have problems with loan repayment, "unless in the dispute with (the
war crimes tribunal in) The Hague we subordinate the country's
interests to some other interests."
As a major problem he cited debt returning after 2004 when, in four
years, Croatia will have to return up to 35 billion kuna (EUR4.7
billion), without incurring further debts, which is almost half
this year's budget.
Tonci Zuvela of the Social Democrats (SDP) said the fact that
Croatia had been registering an increase in Gross Domestic Product
for the past 30 months indicated there was room for economic
development.
Luka Rojic of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) agreed with the
finance minister that the budget was being executed as planned and
that the state was solvent. He pointed, however, to the need of
combating the black market in the tobacco industry and punishing
those evading the payment of taxes and contributions.
(hina) ha sb