Although the Economic Council expressed concern in a statement after today’s meeting regarding the lack of agreement on slowing the growth of salaries in the public sector and the increase in the state budget deficit, some members of the Council do not share this opinion.
The president of the Croatian Economic Society, Ljubo Jurčić, is not worried about the budget deficit that will arise due to fulfilling the obligation from the agreement with the unions regarding a six percent salary increase in public and state services. The funds for the salary increase are only 0.5 percent of GDP, and if we make an effort, with a little better organization, we can compensate for this during 2009, Jurčić stated after the Council meeting.
We can save one percent and increase production by one percent, which totals two percent, so the salary growth in public and state services will not pose any problem, claims Jurčić. Union representative in the Council, Vilim Ribić, warned that other European countries, despite the crisis, are also going into budget deficit, so they cannot criticize Croatia for doing the same thing. Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has well assessed the situation in the European Union and I believe he has gained understanding for the moves of the Croatian Government, and signals from politics will already reach the banks, Ribić said.
The Prime Minister told the Council members that we, as a society, should focus on essential strategic interests, such as entering the EU, rather than on mutual conflicts, and I believe he is right in this, Ribić said. (Hina)
