Prime Minister Milanovic: Croatia has a chance to move forward

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said he was pleased with what his government had done in its first year in office, but that he was not pleased with the results. He, however, noted that based on the steps taken so far Croatia "has a chance to move forward."

"For the first time this government has cut taxes on the business sector, we are restoring order, budget revenues are coming in above projections, we want business people to come to Croatia with the knowledge that they can make money here," Milanovic said in interview with Croatian Television, summing up the first year in office of his Cabinet.

He pointed out the success of fiscal reforms, and announced that in 2013 the government would focus on improving the investment climate and reducing the high unemployment rate.

Commenting on the downgrade of Croatia's credit rating by Standard & Poor's agency, Milanovic said: "It's just an opinion of an agency, while the interest rate at which we borrow has remained the same." He said he believed that Croatia did not need help from the International Monetary Fund in implementing reforms. The IMF "in general serves as an excuse to those who are not successful in a regular way. Unlike previous governments, we have started doing something." He dismissed speculations that Croatia was hostage to interest groups, saying: "we are only changing too slowly."

Speaking of plans for next year, Milanovic stressed the need to ensure growth, noting that "banks are liquid and there is money for everyone who wants to work." He announced a new budget model for the end of 2013 in which "important items will be separated from very important ones."

Milanovic also commented on growing tensions over the plan to introduce health education in the school curriculum, saying that in his opinion "it is not a matter of a world view but of hygiene." He said that the health education program was designed for the benefit of children and their health. He called on opponents to stop their manipulations, saying that their leaflets included quotations from teachers' manuals that are not intended for pupils.

"What they are doing is ugly," Milanovic said. When asked if he would meet with the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, to discuss the matter, he briefly replied: "I've said it all."

Media reported on Sunday that opponents of the proposed health education curriculum were handing out leaflets in Konzum and Tisak retail shops as part of an agreement between the Catholic Church and the shops' owner, Agrokor. The press service of the Zagreb archdiocese confirmed the media reports in a statement saying: "In performing its mission of caring for the benefit of its faithful and for the benefit of every person, the Church has a duty and right to use all means of information dissemination" to inform the faithful about important matters.
(Hina)




News