LOWER HOUSE TO DISCUSS BUDGET AND CRO DEFENDERS NEXT WEEK

( Editorial: --> 4265 ) ZAGREB, Sept 30 (Hina) - The Croatian Parliament's House of Representatives continued its 33rd session on Wednesday with reports on the state budget and Croatian defenders. But MPs have decided to postpone debating and voting on adopting the reports until next week because Croatian Radio Television (HRT) was unable to offer live coverage of parliament today due to its commitments for this weekend's papal visit to Croatia. Deputy Finance Minister Mijo Jukic told the lower house that in the first half of this year, state budget revenues amounted to 22.4 billion kuna (about US$3.7 billion), which was 60.4 per cent of the planned annual total. Budget expenditures in the same period amounted to 20.8 billion kuna (about $3.4 billion). We are satisfied with the realisation of the budget for the first six months, Jukic said delivering the report on the implementation of the state budget for the first half of 1998. He presented data which showed that in the first nine months of this year, total revenues had reached 75 per cent of the planned annual total. An increase in tax revenues for the first half of this year, especially from the Value Added Tax (PDV), had resulted in a balancing of the state budget, which was adopted in July. The re-balance included increasing increased expenditure in the social arena, agriculture, reconstruction and the building of flats, Jukic said. He also expressed satisfaction with macroeconomic indicators, such as expectations that inflation by the year's end would be between 3 and 4 per cent, the Croatian kuna had a stable exchange rate, industrial production had continued to grow for the past 35 months and wages had risen. Everything that had been planned well had been realised, Jukic said. But he warned that at the same time there were smaller revenues in areas such as consumption tax and customs duties. Before Jukic's address, there was a short discussion on the report on the implementation of the Law on the Rights of Croatian Defenders in the period from July 1997 to June 1998. Debate was postponed until next Wednesday. This item was supposed to continue the 33rd session this morning, but the planned agenda had been significantly changed. Because of the HRT's commitments for the papal visit, today's debate could not be broadcast live and would have been recorded for transmission tomorrow. Proposing that because of this the debate on the report be postponed until next week, parliament's Committee for Croatian Defenders chairman Janko Bobetko (HDZ) emphasised that discussion on Croatian defenders related to the entire parliament. This proposal received support from the parliamentary benches of the Croatian Social-Liberal Party (HSLS), Croatian People's Party- Istrian Democratic Forum (HNS-IDF), Croatian Peasants Party (HSS), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the governing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), as proposed by its parliamentary leader Vladimir Seks. HSLS MP Djurdja Adlesic complained that the changes in the agenda had been made in a totally unsatisfactory way and would not address the problems. But the HDZ's Vladimir Seks explained that the changes had been made because of the irresponsibility of several members for not attending parliamentary committees, which yesterday and today did not have a quorum and did not discuss items on the agenda as had been plan. Parliamentary President Vlatko Pavletic supported Seks' view and said that the work of committees was most important before a parliamentary sitting. (Hina) mbr 301455 MET sep 98