Doctors will receive this rise because they are extremely responsible for the lives and health of people, the office added.
Health Minister Neven Ljubicic told Hina today the decree was a sign of good will towards doctors, ahead of the start of their strike scheduled for 11 April.
The minister said this did not mean that the authorities had yielded to the pressure being exerted by the Croatian Doctors' Union (HLS), which had threatened with the strike.
Ljubicic said the rise would be paid as of May.
The government, however, declined to apply the collective agreement for doctors and dentists until a competent court decides on whether the agreement was in line with the law. Two other trade unions of employees in the health sector have launched court proceedings, claiming that the conclusion of that collective agreement was unlawful. Subsequently the government agreed with this standpoint.
The leader of the HLS union, Ivica Babic, declined to comment on the government's decision today. He said the union would hold a session in the coming days at which it would adopt a stand on the matter. The union has so far insisted on both the collective agreement and the 10-percent rise