Croatian deputy prime ministers Milanka Opacic and Branko Grcic met with EU ambassadors in Zagreb on Friday to acquaint them with the measures which the government intended to implement to reduce the excessive deficit and with other reforms aimed at consolidating the financial system.
Opacic presented nine long-term reform measures for the consolidation of the financial system: the integration of support services, outsourcing services, integrated public procurement, a single monetary system, the reform of social contracting, the use of EU funding to finance the reform measures, a hospital master plan, the restructuring of the school network and curricula, and the reorganisation of the justice system, according to a government press release.
"The government is determined to implement these reforms and we are aware that we can no longer live on debt. We will not be a problem because of failure to act. We will carry out our work in full," Opacic said.
Grcic said that further consolidation of the state budget could not be ensured without implementing these reforms. He informed the accredited EU ambassadors about specific steps the government intended to take on the revenue and expenditure sides of the budget to cut the budget shortfall by the necessary 7.7 billion kuna.
"I wish to point out that we will not substantially touch public-sector investments or grants that go directly to the economic sector," Grcic said.
Grcic also informed the ambassadors about the progress made in the area of investment, with special emphasis on the law governing strategic investment projects, which aims to facilitate investment and improve the overall investment climate in the country.
(Hina)
News
