Šuker: Budget for 2011 by the End of the Year

Ivan Šuker, Minister of Finance, stated at today’s Budget Management Conference in Westin that the budget for 2011 can be adopted by December 31, 2010, and that it will most likely be based on an economic growth projection of 1.5 to 1.6 percent for the coming year.

These are conservative estimates from everyone in Croatia, but it can also be increased if we enable private investments that can be easily realized – said Šuker after the opening of the Budget Management and Fiscal Policy Conference. He briefly commented on his affair that has been ongoing for some time with Damir Mihanović from Croatia osiguranje. – Due to the ongoing process, I cannot talk too much about it, and everyone who knows me knows that I am not a person who gets in someone’s face and threatens. At the Conference in Westin, alongside the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia and Minister of Finance Ivan Šuker, the head of the European Union Delegation in Croatia and Ambassador Paul Vandoren also addressed the attendees with a welcoming speech.

The conference was held as part of the project ‘Improvement of Budget Processes’, funded by the EU PHARE 2006 program. Two key topics were discussed: the state of budget management in Croatia and the approach to budget management in European Union countries. Representatives of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia provided an overview of changes in public finance in Croatia and in budget management during the accession process and the adoption of best practices from the European Union. The conference is expected to contribute to further improvement of budget management in Croatia in light of the upcoming accession to the European Union, as well as to familiarize with the experiences of EU member states in adopting the best international practices in budget management and fiscal policy. On the second day of the conference, the emphasis will be on selecting the appropriate fiscal policy to overcome the economic crisis that has caused problems in the budgets of almost all European countries. (R. R.)