The incentive cut will result in fewer people who want to save, said Igor Cesek of the HDSSB party, while Branko Bacic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said the government was sending the message that it did not have a stable housing savings system.
Nadica Jelas of the ruling coalition's Social Democrats (SDP) said the government should reconsider the housing policy but that the incentive cut would not lead to a cancellation of housing savings.
Zeljko Semper of the HSU said more than 600,000 citizens had been involved in housing savings over the past 12 years, with more than HRK 6 billion deposited and more than HRK 4 billion paid for citizens' housing requirements.
Deputy Finance Minister Boris Lalovac said the proposed incentive cut would reduce the government's incentives for a depositor to HRK 500 in one calendar year. He said the housing savings incentives system had not served its purpose so far.
There are five housing savings banks in Croatia with HRK 7.3 billion in total assets at the end of June 2012, or 1.8% of all loan institutions' assets.
"From 2009 to 2011, HRK 160 million was paid on average from the state budget for housing savings incentives, while savings banks approved about HRK 300 million in loans on average annually," said Lalovac.
He said the housing savings incentives system would be analysed this year, with a decision to be made based on that on the status of those incentives in the future.
"Although the announced cut is aimed at saving money in the state budget, this type of saving remains the most attractive on the market," he said.
(EUR 1 = HRK 7.5)