August the 16th, 2021 - Finance Minister Zdravko Maric has referred to the current quite remarkable numbers we're seeing coming from the Croatian tourism sector as strong. Few expected a summer season as successful as this one so far.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Maric stated that the first twelve days of August, Croatia has recorded 10 billion kuna worth of fiscalised receipts/bills, which is 12.5 percent more than in the same period in pre-pandemic, record 2019.
''Since the beginning of the year, we're 1.3 percent better than we were even back in 2019. Let's carry on and do everything we can to continue these trends. We need to focus more on the cost side of the budget, because revenues, obviously, aren't going to fail. The key to our success in the long-term sustainability of public finances lies in expenditures,'' Finance Minister Zdravko Maric told Jutarnji list.
The Croatian tourist season, given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, is unexpectedly good and is somehow breaking the records even from 2019. According to the Tax Administration, the increase in the total amount of fiscal bills and receipts issued in the first week of August seems to be due to rising prices, especially in the provision of accommodation and food services.
In the first statistical week of August, the number of receipts issued decreased by 13 percent compared to the same week of the record year 2019, but the total amount of fiscal receipts increased by 23 percent. A slightly lower decrease in the number of fiscal receipts issued compared to the first week of August 2021 and 2019 was also observed when they were issued for all activities - this decrease currently stands at just 4 percent.
“Of the activities within the fiscal system, we're mostly monitoring retail trade and tourism. Compared to 2019, trade is 6 to 8 percent better, depending on whether we look at trade in total or just retail, and total tourism is currently in the red by 21.5 percent. That said, in July, tourism was 5 percent better than it was back in July 2019, and in the first 12 days of August, it's as much as 20.4 percent better. Of course, it would be more correct to wait until the end of the month and compare ''the same with the same'', but these are also very strong figures for August,'' concluded Finance Minister Zdravko Maric.
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