ZAGREB, May 10 (Hina) - Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac said on Thursday Croatia was pulling out of recession and expected this year's rate of economic growth to be above four percent.
ZAGREB, May 10 (Hina) - Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac said on
Thursday Croatia was pulling out of recession and expected this
year's rate of economic growth to be above four percent. #L#
Croatia is leaving the state of depression, however, the current
economic growth is still not high enough to reflect on the quality
of citizens' living conditions due to a fall in the past decade,
Crkvenac said submitting a report on economic developments and
prices at today's government session.
Crkvenac supports his estimate with data which say that the
industrial production in the first three months of this year has
increased by 5.5 percent as against the same period last year.
Retail trade has increased 15 percent, tourism is expected to rise
by 15 percent, and this year's March salaries were 5.1 percent
higher than in March last year, he said.
Public Works Minister Radimir Cacic announced a sharp turnaround in
construction, with an expected growth rate of 10 percent.
Although unemployment continues to be the main problem, Crkvenac
believes the unemployment rate has been stagnating for five months
and that there are indications that employment has been improving.
The minister believes there is no reason for more serious concern
about the prices and that their stability will be maintained
throughout this year.
Deputy Economy Minister Maja Brinar presented data which read that
the costs of living in April this year increased 2.3 percent in
relation to December last year. Retail prices increased by 2.1
percent, with the prices of liquid fuels and lubricants having
risen by 13.7 percent. The prices of basic food products have
dropped, she said, citing as an example a 9.9 percent drop in the
price of long-life milk and the unchanged price of brown bread.
The Economy Ministry has devised its own method for the calculation
of minimum living costs of a four-member family. Those costs in
April this year amounted to 4,747 kuna and were only 1.5 percent
higher than last year, she said.
(hina) sb rml