ZAGREB, July 30, 2020 – Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said on Thursday that of the HRK 63.4 billion necessary for financing this year, almost all had been secured by the summer break.
Although the financing account of HRK 63.4 billion sounded really high and there was a polemic about how to secure the money, almost all have been secured by the summer break, he said in parliament.
A general government surplus was planned for the first time for this year, in the amount of HRK 1.5 billion, but the coronavirus epidemic caused a drop in revenues and an increase in expenditures for healthcare and to help the economy, due to which the state had to borrow on the domestic and the foreign market, Maric said.
Instead of a surplus, we are planning a deficit of almost HRK 25 billion and this has affected the financing account, which amounts to HRK 63.4 billion for 2020, he added.
Maric announced that macroeconomic projections would be revised in late August and early September.
He was speaking during a debate on the ratification of three loan agreements with international financial institutions totalling almost €660 million for dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, the reconstruction of the Zagreb area after a March earthquake, and boosting public healthcare.
Two of the agreements are with the World Bank and one with the Council of Europe Development Bank.
(€1 = HRK 7.5)
