ZAGREB, 8 Dec, 2021 - The Croatian parliament on Wednesday passed the state budget for 2022 with projections for 2023 and 2024, with 77 MPs voting in favour, one more than the required 76, and 49 against.

Parliament upheld the government's decision to accept only nine out of 450 amendments submitted - four put forward by the ruling majority and five by the opposition.

The opposition amendments were tabled by the Green-Left Bloc, the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) and MPs Željko Lenart (Croatian Peasant Party), Vesna Vučemilović (Croatian Sovereignists) and Boška Ban Vlahek (Social Democratic Party). The total value of the amendments is HRK 11 million, which the opposition considers insufficient.

Based on the opposition amendments, funding has been increased for the provision of housing for victims of domestic violence, the renovation of the Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč, the Croatian Library for the Blind programme, the international promotion of agriculture and the wood-processing industry, and for the school for children with special needs in Čakovec.

The amendments put forward by the ruling majority, notably the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the Croatian People's Party / Croatian Pensioners' Party group, Miro Totgergeli (HDZ) and Veljko Kajtazi (Roma minority) provide for the construction of a modular building as part of the Fran Mihaljević Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb, the restoration of the Fortress complex in Osijek, the equipping of the Bjelovar General Hospital and for the national plan for the inclusion of the Roma until 2027.

This is the sixth state budget proposed by the government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It projects HRK 164.5 billion in revenues, nearly HRK 174 billion in expenditures and a budget deficit of over HRK 9 billion.

The largest increases in expenditure concern post-earthquake reconstruction, social welfare and the pension system.

"We want this budget to speed up growth, economic transformation and structural reforms as well as to strengthen our resilience and foster our deeper integration with the European Union," Plenković said while presenting the budget in Parliament.

He said that the focus would be shifted from crisis management to competitiveness and job creation.

The budget is based on the encouraging trends of economic recovery, the expected GDP growth of at least 9% in 2021, the successful tourist season and exports growth.

The government wants to continue to manage public finance responsibly. Next year it plans to bring down the public debt to GDP ratio to 80.7% and the general government deficit to 2.6%.

Macroeconomic projections for the next two years anticipate Croatia's entry into the euro area, which, along with membership of the Schengen passport-free travel area, is one of the two strategic goals of deeper integration with the European Union.

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