GDP grows the fastest in the last eight years.
In the third quarter of this year, Croatian economy grew by 2.9 percent compared to the same period last year, which is the fastest growth in the past eight years, reports Poslovni.hr on November 30, 2016.
The Central Bureau of Statistics announced on Wednesday its first assessment of gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the third quarter. The growth rate of 2.9 percent is in line with expectations. Eight macroeconomists who participated in a preannouncement survey correctly estimated on average that the economy grew by 2.9 percent year-on-year. Their growth estimates were in the range from 2.5 to 3.3 percent.
This is the eighth consecutive quarter that GDP is growing, and faster than in the previous one, when the economy grew by 2.8 percent. The growth of 2.9 percent is the fastest since the second quarter of 2008, when GDP grew at that same rate.
The Central Bureau of Statistics reported that the largest contribution to the increase was recorded in the growth of exports of services, with tourist services being the most important. The contribution of domestic demand was also positive, as well as the contribution of net external demand. Other important GDP components also grew: government spending increased by 2.1 percent, gross investments in fixed capital increased by 2.9 percent, and household consumption grew by 3.0 percent.
According to seasonally adjusted data, GDP in the third quarter rose by 1.7 percent compared to the previous quarter.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković reacted to the latest statistics. “This is the best growth in the last eight years. The government is very pleased with these results which clearly prove that we are moving in the right direction. The growth trend exists in all sectors, especially in exports and tourism. In our projections for the next year, we expect GDP growth of 3.2 percent”, said Plenković.
“We have to admit that these results are partly the work of the previous Croatian government, but we also note that these results are so good because of an important message of political stability in Croatia. Everything that is now taking place in the economy is a positive consequence of the positive climate which exists in Croatia. We will continue with the tax reform, with a further reduction of parafiscal charges and taking all other measures that we have announced, and we hope that this will be reflected in a better living standards of our citizens. The basic goal is to ensure stable and sustainable economic growth of 5 percent by 2020. We hope that this will be an incentive for all economic stakeholders to achieve even better results”, concluded Plenković.
