”This will be a good year, we’ll be better off than we were last year”
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 28th of December, 2017, Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on the eve of the government session that he plans to continue with the reduction of public debt next year, a move at which he looks with optimism.
On Thursday, Marić said that this will be the second consecutive year to see a significant reduction in the public debt-to-GDP ratio, which, according to projections, will be below 80 percent, Marić announced that this trend will continue on in 2018.
The Ministry of Finance estimates the lowering the share of public debt to GDP at the end of this year to go below 80 percent – to 79.6 percent of the GDP, or more precisely, to 290.84 billion kuna.
When asked about his personal evaluation of his work and the work of the government throughout this, an otherwise rather tumultous year, he replied that that question should be given to someone else – citizens, the public and others he works alongside in the government. He added that he was personally satisfied with what the government managed to achieve this year and expects to “execute the plan as outlined in the last budget rebalance” stating that things could even get better, but that it was too early to say just how much better, because there are still a few days to go until the end of the year.
At the end of last week, the Ministry of Finance announced that the general government deficit for 2017 could be significantly lower than the planned 0.6 percent of the GDP, and that the budget would be close to balancing.
“This is going to be a good year and we’ll be better off than last year, and as finance minister, I’m the main and responsible [person] in the government for the budget and my focus is mostly on public finances, but also on fiscal policy and all other policies that need to be in function for economic growth and employment and we’ll have to look at it all,” Marić emphasised.
He pointed out that he was grateful to his team that they were able to ensure big savings on interest payments, of which he says he is particularly proud.
Aside from Marić’s optimistic comments, Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolušić said that his sector did a lot this year too, arguing that he returned optimism to Croatian villages.
Asked by journalists whether or not he was satisfied with the work done in the agricultural sector in 2017, Tolušić said on the eve of the session of the government that he believed that a lot had been achieved this year, but that more could always be done in the coming year.
