CROATIA'S 1996 GDP INCREASES BY 4.2%

ZAGREB, Aug 23 (Hina) - Croatia's 1996 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 4.2 per cent higher than in 1995, the State Statistics Bureau said in a statement. A GDP growth rate of 1.7 per cent was registered in 1995 as against the previous year, while last year's GDP growth rate increased by 2.5 percentage points. Compared to Central European countries, Croatia's economic growth rate is higher than that of Slovenia, which amounts to 3.1 per cent, and Hungary, where the economy showed growth, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, of 1.2 per cent. Higher economic growth than Croatia's was recorded in the Czech Republic, where it reached 5.2 per cent, and Poland, 5.5 per cent. However, last year's level of the Croatian GDP is still below the 1990 level, totalling 74.15 per cent of the 1990 GDP. According to estimates in current prices, the 1996 GDP reached US$19.07 billion or $4,243 per capita. The 1995 GDP was estimated at $18.08 billion, or $3,873 per capita. The GDP continued to grow in the first quarter of this year, showing an increase of 3.2 per cent as against the same period last year. The Croatian GDP has been on the increase since 1994. Last year the highest growth was registered in the third quarter, when it rose by 7.8 per cent in comparison to the third quarter of 1995. It is estimated that growth in the second, and particularly in the third, quarter of this year will be higher than in 1996, which will result in a higher GDP growth rate than last year, the statement said. (hina) vm jn 230930 MET aug 97