Lalovac: Government agencies must live like ordinary people

State agencies must adapt and live like ordinary Croatians, Finance Minister Boris Lalovac said after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, commenting on measures to rationalise the costs of 187 state agencies.

The government has adopted an initial set of measures to save about a billion kuna in state expenditure annually. The proposed measures, relating to the operation of 187 agencies, institutes, funds and other legal persons with public authority which spend 70 billion kuna annually and employ 26,000 people, have already been submitted to the European Commission as part of the procedure to correct excessive macroeconomic imbalances.

The measures were prepared by a government commission that conducted an in-depth analysis of budget expenditure, and they envisage a reduction of costs by half a billion kuna, a reduction of expenses for salaries and various allowances, a merger of agencies, and the inclusion of agency staff in the Central Salary Accounting system.

"The agencies, 187 of them, should live like ordinary Croatian people do. Unfortunately, people live hard lives, and the agencies must adapt to the conditions we live in," Lalovac said. "The commission clearly said that there are no controls over salaries, business trips or financial costs, such as energy costs," the minister said, adding that the necessary standards would be introduced.

Lalovac said that the 26,000 employees of the agencies had not been covered by any measures for years. "We will not touch their independence, they will continue doing their jobs independently, but will have to comply with standard costs," he said.

"This is just an initial package of measures and more will follow," Lalovac said. He announced a visit by a European Commission delegation to Zagreb on Monday, with whom the government would discuss possible additional cuts.

"A final package should be completed in about ten days or so, and it should save about two billion kuna," Lalovac said.

(Hina) vm

News | Finance