At this moment, there is no need for a budget rebalancing, the state of public finances is good, and the government is fulfilling all its obligations on time, stated Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ivan Šuker today.
In response to a journalist’s inquiry regarding speculation about an imminent budget rebalancing, Šuker, after signing a financial cooperation agreement between the Governments of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Germany, stated that "he does not see what has changed in Croatia to necessitate a budget rebalancing." No one claims that there are no problems, but since revenues are currently at the level of 2009 and the budget for last year and this year is very similar, there is no need for an urgent rebalancing, Šuker said, adding that the timely payment of all obligations from the budget is "the best indicator of the state of public finances."
He reiterated that the crisis tax will be abolished "at the moment when any improvement" in the economy is discernible, and assessed that Croatian citizens have reduced consumption out of fear of what tomorrow will bring – primarily due to job and salary insecurity. New government measures for economic recovery and development, which Šuker believes "must yield results," should restore their optimism. He called on commercial banks and entrepreneurs to fully engage in the HBOR auction scheduled for Friday and expressed hope that the governor of the Croatian National Bank, Željko Rohatinski, will soon be able to reduce the mandatory reserve of banks by another 2-3 percent, thereby increasing the amount of funds channeled through HBOR.
