ZAGREB, July 25, 2018 – Croatian companies do not expect significant changes in their operations in the second half of the year and are moderately optimistic about their revenues, a survey by the Croatian Chamber of Chamber (HGK) shows.
“On the one hand, this can be taken as a good indicator that the economic situation has stabilised and that the trend is positive, while on the other hand it indicates that businesses do not expect more serious reforms or an improvement of the business climate,” the HGK said in a statement on Wednesday.
Nearly half of those surveyed (46 percent) expect to generate the same amount of revenues in the next six months, while the number of those who expect higher revenues (36 percent) is twice as high as the number of those who expect lower revenues (18 percent).
Forty-five percent of the companies polled are exporters and a vast majority of them expect their foreign revenues to increase or stay the same in the next six months. Their projections are based on the stable growth of the EU as their most important market and generally favourable global trends.
As for investments, 49 percent anticipate stagnation, 22 percent plan to increase their investments and 29 percent plan to decrease their investments.
More than two-thirds of businesses do not expect to increase their labour force, while 20 percent plan to increase the number of employees to a certain extent.
Most of the companies (60 percent) do not expect major changes in general business conditions, which may be due to the absence of new reform plans that would improve companies’ business outlooks, the HGK said. Businesses neither expect any considerable fluctuations regarding access to funding and foreign exchange rates.
Among factors that will have the greatest positive impact on doing business, most of the respondents cited further growth of foreign and domestic demand, while energy prices, labour availability, the judicial system, the tax system and public administration were singled out as negative factors.
The HGK said that the results of the survey were a message to the government to continue reforms so as to make most of the current positive trends in the national economy and across the EU.
