For October, Croatia's credit rating remains DB4a, indicating a moderate risk for investments, according to a report which the Zagreb-based BonLine firm carried on Monday.
D&B analysts noted that members of the Croatian Economic and Social Council (GSV) - employers, trade unions and government officials - who considered the Ivo Sanader cabinet's guidelines of the economic and fiscal policy for 2007-2009 hailed the proposed measures describing them as a good basis for further negotiations.
The report with Croatia's credit rating reads that "although the country's likely accession to the EU is probably still at five years away, the government has set a target of 2008 to meet 3.0 percent of GDP fiscal deficit criterion".
"However, significant fiscal consolidation will be difficult in 2007, which will be an election year."
The analysts expect "pressure on public spending to be greater than in 2006, with a commensurate slowdown in the pace of fiscal adjustment".
According to the report, the general government fiscal deficit is likely to narrow from 4.3 percent of GDP in 2005 to 3.2 percent in 2006 and to 3.1 percent in 2007.
Croatia was given DB4a credit rating in June. In that month, the country's credit rating jumped from DB4c by two fourths to DB 4a, thanks to the successful completion of the first chapter of negotiations with the European Union.
Croatia is tenth-ranked on the list of 25 eastern European countries. Slovenia is on the top of the list with the credit rating DB2b. At the bottom of the list are Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan with the rating DB6d.