ZAGREB, November 14, 2019 - The Croatian parliament on Thursday adopted the state budget for 2020 with 80 lawmakers voting in favour, 41 against and one abstention.
The budget, proposed by the government, plans 145 billion kuna on the revenue side and 147 billion kuna on the expenditure side, and a majority of government departments can expect a rise in their funding from the state budget.
The budget has been prepared with the assumption that Croatia's economy will grow 2.5% in 2020.
The government plans 6.7% higher revenues in comparison to the original 2019 plans, that is 5.4% more in comparison to the revised budget which was also adopted by the parliament today.
The expenses in the next year's budget are higher by five percent, that is by seven billion kuna, in comparison to this year, and by 8.3 billion kuna in comparison to the revised budget in 2019
As a result, the projected budget gap in 2020 is put at 2.15 billion kuna, accounting for 0.5% of Gross Domestic Product.
HDZ party whip Branko Bačić said on Thursday that the vote on the state budget earlier in the day showed how strong the ruling majority in the parliament was, stressing that he did not share the view that the budget did not include striking teachers' demands.
"The documents that had to be adopted were adopted by a majority of more than 80 votes, which proves the strength of the ruling coalition and the HDZ group. I don't think that the budget does not include education-sector workers' demands for a six percent wage increase because the government did secure funds for that increase. You would not be able to tell from the budget if it refers to an increase in the base wage or an increase in the job complexity index because the total amount of the increase is as demanded by the education-sector unions and next year each teacher and employee in the education sector will get a wage increase as demanded by the unions," said Bačić, adding that therefore there was no longer any reason for the unions to continue striking.
Commenting on the European People's Party (EPP) decision not to hold sessions of its Presidency and Political Assembly in the Croatian Parliament on November 20 and 21, as originally planned, but at a different venue in Zagreb, Bačić said that the EPP did not want to cause any inconvenience either to its members or the HDZ, and that it wanted to avoid creating the impression that the Croatian Parliament was leased to a political group.
Bačić said this was not about giving in to demands by the opposition in the Croatian Parliament but about a proposal and decision by the EPP, made in agreement with the HDZ, so that the planned political event could be held in a pressure-free atmosphere.
The EPP, the strongest political group in the European Parliament, will for the first time hold its electoral congress in Zagreb on November 20-21. The event is hosted by HDZ leader and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and EPP President Joseph Daul. More than 2,000 delegates from some 40 countries will be discussing current European policies. The EPP congress will elect a new EPP leadership.
More budget news can be found in the Politics section.
