Parliament Votes on the Budget

The Croatian Parliament continues its session with a discussion and voting on amendments to the proposal of the state budget for 2011. After that, it will vote on the budget.

The budget is realistic for the ruling party, it is not a lifesaver, but it is not catastrophic either; it allows for sustainable social peace, so everyone knows what to expect and prepare for the next year, writes the portal hrt.hr. It is also considered the beginning of the consolidation of public finances in the post-crisis period. At the same time, for the opposition, it is underdeveloped, detrimental, pushing us even deeper into the crisis, unacceptable both regionally and nationally.

Before presenting the budget in Parliament, Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor expressed confidence that the Parliament would support it. Whatever the discussion may be, it will end with the voting on the budget, she briefly stated. The government rejected all 30 amendments submitted to the proposal of the state budget by HSP representative Daniel Srb and independent representative Zoran Vinković, as well as four of Vinković’s amendments to the financial plan of Hrvatske ceste at last week’s session.

Finance Minister Ivan Šuker explained that 17 amendments submitted by Srb are not in accordance with the law and that they do not provide sources of financial resources. Through these amendments, worth about 13 million kuna, Srb seeks for the government to reduce budget allocations for municipalities with a majority Serbian population and equalize them with the allocations (250,000 kuna) received by other municipalities in war-affected areas.

Vinković, with amendments worth 204 million kuna, mainly sought more money for projects related to Đakovo and Slavonia (maternity wards, the project for the closed riding hall of Ergele Đakovo, etc.). He also requested a redistribution of about 60 million kuna within the financial plan of Hrvatske ceste. The proposed state budget for the next year anticipates revenues of 107.4 billion kuna and expenditures of 122.3 billion kuna, with a deficit of 14.9 billion kuna, or 4.3% of GDP. (www.hrt.hr)