Applauding the draft, committee chairman Dragan Kovacevic of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) stressed that pensions and salaries would remain intact and that the needs of vulnerable social groups would be taken into account. He also praised the proposed reduction of grants, primarily shipbuilding subsidies.
Ljubo Jurcic of the strongest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) said that the budget revision was necessary as budget revenues and expenditures were not in accordance with the initial projections.
However, he criticised the government for lacking vision and for being unable to carry out structural changes which he said was the only thing that could take the country out of the crisis.
The problem does not lie with the HRK 14 billion deficit, but with what that money is intended for, as it will be spent on expenditures and on maintaining social peace rather than on creating new value, the SDP deputy said.
Also on Wednesday, the committee on labour and social partnership supported the draft budget revision by a majority vote.
The proposed budget revision will be on the parliament's agenda on Thursday, when MPs are convening for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the topic.