Plenković: Economic growth in the third quarter could exceed expectations

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković emphasized at today’s Government session that the results of the tourist season indicate that economic growth in the third quarter will also exceed expectations.

– The extremely encouraging results lead to the conclusion that growth in the third quarter will be above expectations – said Plenković, adding that the overall growth this year is higher than predicted by the Government, as well as by international financial institutions and agencies.

According to the data he presented, there have been 14.9 million arrivals and 85.9 million overnight stays so far this tourist year, which is 91 and 96 percent of the achievements from the record year of 2019. Fiscalized accounts related to tourism from January 1 to August 31 amounted to, according to him, 168 billion kuna, which is 28.6 percent more than in 2019, and only in accommodation, food preparation, and service, they are higher by 28 billion kuna or 37 percent.

The DZS published its first estimate on Friday, according to which the gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter grew by 7.7 percent compared to the same period last year. This is a faster growth than in the previous quarter, when GDP grew by 7 percent, and it is also the fifth consecutive quarter that the economy is recovering from the corona crisis.

Next week measures to protect against price increases

Prime Minister Plenković also announced that the government will present measures to protect citizens and businesses from price increases, particularly energy prices.

– The measures are being finalized. They will be comprehensive, all-encompassing, and aimed at households and the entire public sector, non-profit organizations, and energy users such as schools, hospitals, kindergartens, public institutions, associations, religious communities, municipalities, cities, and counties – said the Prime Minister.

– We will do everything to ensure that their bills are such that they can pay them without major problems – he added and announced special care for the most vulnerable, as well as the continuation of social transfers, and a focus on the economy, especially small entrepreneurship.

Regarding the situation in INA and the scandal of embezzlement of money from gas resale, he said that it has a judicial but also a ‘managerial dimension’ and announced that the Government will ‘take steps to change things’.

– What happened is extremely bad and catastrophic, and things need to be changed from the root so that something like this does not happen again – he said.

In a political sense, he added, the group of people who organized this should be held accountable. He told political competitors that this is about the actions of individuals and a group of people who are not politically motivated or sponsored.