CROATIA'S 1996 GDP RISES 4.2%

ZAGREB, July 9 (Hina) - Croatia's 1996 gross domestic product rose 4.2 per cent from 1995, the State Statistics Bureau said in a statement on Wednesday. In comparison to other Central European countries, the economic growth rate in Croatia is higher than in Slovenia, where it amounts to 3.1 per cent, and Hungary, whose economy, according to the International Monetary Fund, saw growth of 1.2 per cent last year. The countries which registered higher economic growth than Croatia are the Czech Republic (5.2 per cent) and Poland (5.5 per cent). However, the Croatian GDP last year was still below that of 1990, amounting to 74.15 per cent of the 1990 BDP. Last year's BDP reached US$19.07 billion or 4,243 dollars per capita. In the first quarter of this year, the BDP increased 3.2 per cent compared to the same period last year. According to available data, it can be estimated that its growth in the second, and particularly third, quarter of this year will be higher than in 1996. (hina) vm mm 091519 MET jul 97