The Croatian delegation will stay in Washington on October 10-12, meeting with WB and IMF leaders, including the new head of the IMF mission to Croatia to agree an action plan for 2014, Linic told reporters.
Meetings will also be held with representatives of banks important for financing in Croatia and other potential investors, such as funds. They will be acquainted with what the government did in 2012 and 2013 in the fiscal consolidation and restructuring of state-owned companies as well as with plans for the coming period.
The US trip is not related to a new government bond issue. The government borrowed abroad in April and will not borrow abroad this year again but look for financing on the domestic market, the minister said.
Borrowing in 2014 will be discussed in a couple of weeks during the presentation of next year's budget, he said, adding that expenditures for financing this year's deficit and old debts would be very high in 2014.
The budget deficit was a little below HRK 13.3 billion at the end of September and is not expected to be much higher by year's end, Linic said, adding that the amount included HRK 3.3 billion spent to bail out the health sector.
The cost of bailing out the health sector, the somewhat higher expenses for salaries in the education and police sectors, and the costs of pension indexation by the end of the year will be covered by an upcoming revision of this year's budget.
Budget revenues in the first three quarters of the year totalled HRK 79.6 billion, down two per cent on the year, while expenditures reached HRK 92.9 billion, up 3.5% on the year.
The revenue decline is primarily due to a HRK 1.2 billion decline in tax revenue as a result of lower income tax revenues, from which business owners who reinvest their profit are exempt.
Income tax revenues declined HRK 1.5 billion, and when one adds the lower health contribution rate, the intermediate 10% VAT rate, debt roll-over programmes, and pre-bankruptcy settlements, it becomes evident that the state made HRK 7-8 billion available to the business sector, Linic said.
At the same time, the state restructured problematic sectors such as railways and the shipyards, decreased illiquidity by HRK 10 billion, and imposed payments within deadlines prescribed by law, which begs the question on what the private sector spent that money and why there has been no growth, said the minister.
(EUR 1 = HRK 7.5)