At its session on Monday, the Croatian government presented a draft state budget for 2013 with the planned revenues amounting to 113.7 billion, expenses totaling HRK 124.5 billion and a budgetary deficit amounting to HRK 10.9 billion or 3.1 percent of the GDP.
Finance Minister Slavko Linic said that in the last quarter of 2012 the government expected a slower GDP decline, as the previous quarter had shown signs of improvement in the industrial production and tourist trade, adding it was realistic to expected GDP to go down 1.1 percent in 2012.
A GDP growth of 1.8 percent in 2013 is also based on these indicators.
"Clearly austerity measures alone would not be sufficient," Linic said adding that also necessary was a parallel process of production growth and a growth of the number of employees in the real sector.
