ZAGREB, December 3, 2018 – The Croatian Parliament on Monday adopted the 2019 budget and projections for 2020 and 2021, with revenues in 2019 totalling over 136 billion kuna and expenditures over 140 billion kuna.
The budget was adopted with 79 votes in favour, 45 against and one abstention.
Budgetary revenues are based on the economic growth and the third round of tax reliefs, while the expenditure side of the budget is focused on the strengthening of fiscal sustainability, development measures and appropriate care for everybody in society.
VAT revenues are expected to reach 51.8 billion kuna and 15.7 billion kuna is to be collected from taxes and excise taxes. Expenditures are planned at 140.3 billion kuna, 6.9 billion kuna more than in this year’s budget.
The parliament adopted two amendments submitted by the government which do not change the overall amount of the budget with the current amounts being redistributed.
The first government-sponsored amendment refers to the development of assisted areas, namely parts of Croatian territory that are underdeveloped in comparison to the Croatian average and therefore need additional development support.
The second government-sponsored amendment proposes a redistribution of 4.1 million kuna to the Education Ministry for the purpose of securing funds for the Hrvatsko Zagorje-Krapina Polytechnic.
The parliament also adopted a revised budget for this year. Seventy-eight MPs voted in favour of the revised budget, one abstained while 45 were against.
Under the proposal for budget revision, budget revenues will increase by 144 million kuna from the original amount, to 129.2 billion kuna.
The most important change in the revised budget is the issue of enforced guarantees given to the Uljanik shipbuilding group, and a minimum 2.5 billion kuna of government guarantees is expected to be paid by the end of the year.
Budget revenues in the budget revision proposal are expected to increase by 2.1 billion kuna or 2.7% from the originally planned amount. VAT revenues are planned at 51.1 billion kuna, 3.1% more than originally planned, owing to positive economic trends and an increase in disposable income.
The profit tax revenue is expected to go up by 1.3% to 8.4 billion kuna, revenues from contributions is expected to go up by 2.6% to 24.9 billion kuna, while revenues from administrative fees are to go up by 18.2% to 4.4 billion kuna.
Budget spending will amount to 131.7 billion kuna, a decrease of 1.6 billion kuna from the current plan.
Guarantee reserves will be increased by 2.6 billion kuna from the originally planned 265 million kuna to 2.865 billion kuna due to the anticipated enforcement of government guarantees given to the Uljanik group.
Only two amendments were submitted to the budget revision proposal, both by the Živi Zid party, and they were both rejected.
For more on Croatia’s budget, click here.
