As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 28th of August, 2020, the Minister of Finance, Zdravko Maric, commented on the decline in Croatian GDP in the second quarter, which amounted to 15.1 percent and is the largest decline since statistics have been recorded over the last 25 years.
"This is the biggest quarterly drop ever recorded in the Republic of Croatia, which I don't think should come as big surprise considering the coronavirus pandemic. Government spending is the only category that has recorded growth, which is expected given the circumstances and what we've done. The 14 percent drop in personal consumption is the largest drop in personal consumption ever recorded. We didn't expect such a big drop in investments,'' Zdravko Maric commented.
''Of the total investments in the Republic of Croatia at the annual level, 52 percent refers to construction, and that recorded a slight plus. We believe that the procurement of equipment led to the fact that total investments fell more than we expected them to. We also had a physical barrier regarding the procurement of equipment due to the pandemic,'' noted the Minister of Finance.
When asked whether a large number of dismissals would follow, Zdravko Maric said that no one could guarantee anything, nor can anyone really be very specific on that issue.
"Challenges remain. We all need to do everything we can to save jobs as much as is possible, that's the most important thing now. In some segments, such as construction, it can already be seen that things are getting better, while in others, such as catering and hospitality, things are more difficult,'' stated Maric.
"The decline in the second quarter is at the level of the Eurozone. When looking at individual countries, there are countries that have a higher rate of decline, Italy, Spain, Portugal… We also did an analysis with the first quarter included, and that marked a decline of 7.8 percent, concluded Zdravko Maric.
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