PM says Croatia's continuing growth most important

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday that preliminary statistics about GDP growth in 2018 proved that the government's forecasts had been realistic, that the most important thing was that the growth was continuing and that he expected rating agencies to appreciate the government's efforts.

The national statistical office on Wednesday released its preliminary GDP growth estimate, according to which GDP grew 2.3% in the last quarter of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017.

In 2018 the economy grew 2.6% compared to 2017, when GDP grew 2.9%.

Addressing reporters before a regular semi-annual meeting with EU ambassadors, held on the occasion of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU, Plenkovic said that the preliminary estimate of GDP growing by 2.6% in 2018 was only 0.1 percentage points lower than the government's estimate of 2.7%.

"Our estimates are realistic, which is very good," he said.

He said that he expected credit rating agencies to take the government's efforts into account, noting that his government had the ambition of making it possible for Croatia to restore its investment credit rating.

Commenting on a reporter's remark that GDP growth in Q4 2018 was only 0.1 pp up from the previous quarter in the context of the growth of imports and a slowdown in exports, and asked if one should fear the year 2020, Plenkovic said that one should work on boosting industrial production and exports and creating conditions for making Croatian products competitive on foreign markets.

"However, it is a fact that we simply do not make some products and when major investments are made, notably in machines that do not exist here, that leads to an increase in imports," he said, adding that stronger production and exports remained one of the government's goals.

Text: Hina

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