ZAGREB, February 5, 2018 – Croatia’s public debt at the end of October 2017 amounted to 290.9 billion kuna, 680 million less than in the previous month but 3.5 billion kuna or 1.2% more than in October 2016, an analysis by Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) shows.
The annual increase in public debt is primarily due to an increase in the central government debt, which at the end of October amounted to 185.8 billion kuna, RBA analysts said in a comment on figures published recently by the Croatian National Bank. The increase in the central government debt was due to the issuance of short and long-term bonds.
The foreign component of the general government debt in October was 3.1% lower on the year, amounting to 105.1 billion kuna. The decrease was due to a drop in the central government’s foreign long-term bond debt, RBA analysts say, explaining that the general government debt consists of the debts of the central government, local government units and social security funds.
The share of the central government debt in the total public debt in October was 98.4%.
RBA analysts also noted that in November last year the state issued 1.275 billion euro worth of euro bonds as well as 5.8 billion kuna worth of bonds on the domestic market. Since those bonds were issued in order to refinance old debts at lower interest rates, the public debt is not expected to change because of them.
Taking into consideration the estimated continuation of economic growth in 2017, RBA analysts expect the share of the public debt in GDP to fall to just below 80%.
