The proposed budget changes set the general government deficit at 3.8% of GDP, and the government believes that this increase still keeps Croatia in a safe zone in terms of economic and other activities as well as in terms of the opinion of credit rating agencies and the European Commission, he added.
The government is committed to reducing the public debt from 88.7% to 86.6% of GDP, this year, Marić said, announcing one more revision of this year’s budget.
The proposed revision, adopted today, will probably be on the government’s agenda next week.
The minister said that he was looking forward to a meeting with Zagreb’s new mayor Tomislav Tomašević, and that he and his team would be at the disposal of the newly elected local authorities.
“As far as Zagreb is concerned, I am sure that the mayor and I will meet to discuss several things,” he said, explaining that with regard to additional borrowing, laws were clear and applied equally to everybody.
Among the topics to be discussed with Tomašević is a limit on borrowing, he said in a comment on the topic of possible new borrowing, explaining that the amount needed to service debts and cover loan guarantees this year must not exceed 20% of last year’s revenue.
With regard to the purchase of fighter jets for the army, Marić said that the government would be guided by pragmatic criteria only. Therefore, a certain amount could be paid as an advance this year, he added.
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