ZAGREB, Dec 18 (Hina) - Croatian Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac said on Tuesday the year 2001 was successful, but unfortunately, not everybody can feel the results of the positive economic trend. Also, he added, the two major issues
had not been solved -- unemployment and inefficiency of public administration and bureaucracy, that is, the functioning of a law-based state, which showed that reforms were being carried out at a slow pace. We have a relatively high economic growth which will continue next year, a low inflation which will, at the annual level, amount to 2.2% in comparison to last December, high foreign reserves of 6.9 billion dollars, and a decline in all deficits, he said. This all provides for a stable macroeconomic framework which affects the improvement of Croatia's rating, the finance minister told reporters. He added that this year's budget was being
ZAGREB, Dec 18 (Hina) - Croatian Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac
said on Tuesday the year 2001 was successful, but unfortunately,
not everybody can feel the results of the positive economic trend.
Also, he added, the two major issues had not been solved --
unemployment and inefficiency of public administration and
bureaucracy, that is, the functioning of a law-based state, which
showed that reforms were being carried out at a slow pace.
We have a relatively high economic growth which will continue next
year, a low inflation which will, at the annual level, amount to
2.2% in comparison to last December, high foreign reserves of 6.9
billion dollars, and a decline in all deficits, he said.
This all provides for a stable macroeconomic framework which
affects the improvement of Croatia's rating, the finance minister
told reporters. He added that this year's budget was being
successfully closed and all profits were being levelled with the
expenditure.
We expect to see strong moves in employment next year, as well as in
development, entrepreneurship and breaks through administrative
barricades, Crkvenac said.
The situation in economy is depicted by the fact that in 1999, total
losses were by 4.3 billion kuna greater than the profits, and a year
later the trend was turned around, as there was a total of 2.1
billion kuna of profits more than the losses. The total personal
savings has exceeded 74 billion kuna, it is increasing daily, and
two billion kuna per day are already free for loans, Crkvenac
stressed.
Commenting on the increasing interest of foreign capital in
Croatian economy, Minister Crkvenac stressed that after banks,
insurance, trade and tourism, the logical follow-up was investment
into production. He announced the arrival of Daimler Chrysler with
a project significant for the wider region, and said the fact that
they would be receiving the same quality of products in Croatia as
they were in Austria and Germany, only with cheaper labour, was
crucial.
(hina) lml