PM assures that public debt is under control

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic on Monday said that the country's public debt was under control and that the deficit was "going to calm down", adding that apart from higher excises, other austerity measures would not impact citizens.

Asked by the press about the data on Croatia's public debt and deficit, Milanovic, who was visiting the Zagreb-based cancer treatment institute, said that Croatians would not be affected by new steps, except higher excise taxes, which Croatia would present to the European Commission within its plan to curb the excessive macroeconomic imbalances.

"Since the first day of our term, this government has touched very little the budget beneficiaries compared to what had been expected and demanded and compared to what every expert on duty in the World Bank or in the International Monetary Fund would recommend," Milanovic said.

In that context, he said that such institutions would recommend the closing of the institute for cancer treatment, as it also cost.

"We are aware that it costs, but we are also aware of its function," the premier said adding that it "makes a distinction between Croatian office-holders responsible to Croatian citizens and those irresponsible local politicians who are babbling or those arriving from abroad here to say how austerity measures can be conducted overnight".

(Hina) ms

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