ZAGREB FAIR -- EXTENDED ZAGREB, Sept 18 (Hina) - Croatia is influenced by events in its surroundings and the world, but even under such circumstances it is important to continue to do as much as possible in the orientation towards
development and further reforms, Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Tuesday. Unemployment, especially involving young people, the slow process of reforms and the lack of an entrepreneur spirit are dominant problems and challenges which the government will be facing and which must be solved in the upcoming period, Racan said opening the Croatian Economic Forum at the Zagreb Fair. The Croatian economy must also solve two key issues -- a lack of new products for export and low degree of competitiveness -- but with the support of the government, Racan said. We achieved a lot in the reform of public companies which have been consolidated and will be privatised soon, Racan said. He ann
ZAGREB, Sept 18 (Hina) - Croatia is influenced by events in its
surroundings and the world, but even under such circumstances it is
important to continue to do as much as possible in the orientation
towards development and further reforms, Prime Minister Ivica
Racan said on Tuesday.
Unemployment, especially involving young people, the slow process
of reforms and the lack of an entrepreneur spirit are dominant
problems and challenges which the government will be facing and
which must be solved in the upcoming period, Racan said opening the
Croatian Economic Forum at the Zagreb Fair.
The Croatian economy must also solve two key issues -- a lack of new
products for export and low degree of competitiveness -- but with
the support of the government, Racan said.
We achieved a lot in the reform of public companies which have been
consolidated and will be privatised soon, Racan said. He announced
the further privatisation of the Croatian Telekom (HT) and the
start of privatising the state-run oil company INA, electric supply
company HEP, Croatia Insurance, and the Dubrovacka and Croatia
banks.
The prime minister stressed he did not expect significant
turbulence in the banking system which has completely been
consolidated, and added the government only plans to keep ownership
in the Croatian Postal Bank (Hrvatska Postanska Banka).
Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac announced that earnings from
privatisation would not be laid into the budget, but rather into the
development of the economy.
The biggest problem is unemployment, government members agreed.
The goal for next year is to decrease the number of unemployed by
about 50,000, Crkvenac said.
He announced additional measures, such as stimulation for self-
employment, greater budgetary funds for the stimulation of
employment, and the government's endorsement for good projects.
Deputy Premier Slavko Linic announced that stimulation to
employment would go mostly to small and middle scale companies.
The finance minister reiterated estimates that the Gross National
Product could next year rise by 4.5 percent, and the foreign trade
and budgetary deficit will continue to decrease.
The global market economy is evidently on the threshold of
recession in the view of recent events, and this gives cause for the
government to raise the question how to enter capital markets and
continue with the privatisation, and there is also the possibility
of tied inflation because of high prices of fuels. Tourism could
feel the consequences, Economy Minister Goranko Fizulic said.
If America's reply to last week's terrorist attacks is of the kind
to cause a deeper crisis, we shall also be forced to review our plans
and even the budget, Fizulic said.
The Economy Minister will be working on the budget in October and
November. Fizulic said he hoped the unclear situation will be
resolved by then, allowing us to see how the world crisis will
influence Croatia's economy.
Chief Croatia's negotiator with the EU, Neven Mimica, recalled the
importance of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the
EU, whose signing is expected for the end of October.
(hina) lml