The commission discussed the annual report on the execution of the budget for 2022, which the government adopted on May 25, and the Stability Program for the period 2024-2026, adopted on April 27.
Total revenues of the state budget in 2022 amounted to 171.7 billion kuna, which is an increase of 11.5 percent compared to 2021. Total expenditures increased by six billion kuna or 3.6 percent.
The commission assesses that, on one hand, the achieved reference values of the fiscal criteria for the deficit below three percent and public debt below 60 percent of GDP, or the necessary level of its reduction, were met.
It emphasizes that it is essential to continue to pursue prudent fiscal policy and adhere to fiscal rules through expenditure growth control, while simultaneously undertaking key reforms in the public sector.
It warns that the preventive part of the Stability and Growth Pact requires viewing public finances from the perspective of the business cycle, which strongly affects the movement of the structural deficit.
It notes that the government did not prepare a supporting report on the achievement of fiscal rules this year when submitting the annual report on the execution of the state budget for 2022, although the Stability Program and the European Commission’s Spring Package contain the necessary figures for that calculation.
