ZAGREB, April 20, 2018 – The Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) on Friday commented on a report on a general government surplus and a public debt reduction, saying that progress made in the public finances sector had encouraged progress in the macroeconomic stability of the country and enabled economic growth on healthy foundations.
Earlier in the day, the national statistical office (DZS) reported that Croatia for the first time recorded a general government surplus of 2.75 billion kuna in 2017, while the debt to GDP ratio fell below 78%. That is the first general government surplus since 2002, since that data has been collected.
“It is important that progress made in the public finances sector supports progress in the macroeconomic stability of the country and enables economic growth based on healthier and more sustainable foundations than those from pre-recession times,” according to a press release issued by the HGK.
The DZS on Friday said that public debt at the end of 2017 amounted to 283.3 billion kuna and the debt to GDP ratio fell to 78%, a record low since 2012 when it was 69.4% to GDP.
The debt, however, is 1.6 billion kuna or 0.6 percent higher than at the end of 2016.
However, since the economy grew by 2.8% faster than in 2016, the debt to GDP ratio also fell, by 2.6 percentage points from the end of 2016, when it stood at 80.6% of GDP.
The HGK said that the report confirmed the Finance Ministry’s announcements of very successful trends in eliminating the budgetary deficit, which positively reflects on the public debt trends. The HGK said that progress made so far was significant and encouraging but insufficient, notably given the debt to GDP ratio of 78%.
