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Zagreb - Parliament on Friday endorsed, with 78 votes in favour and 52 against, the annual report on government performance in 2017 which Prime Minister Andrej Plenković submitted this week.
In the report, he said that in the second year of its term the government had ensured economic and social stability and continued to carry out changes which made citizens' lives better. Negative macroeconomic trends have been turned around, we have a surplus, GDP is rising, employment is record high, the average salary has gone up by HRK 710, the tax relief for businesses and citizens amounts to HRK 6.3 billion, as of January 1 VAT will be halved on fresh meat, fish, eggs, fruit, vegetables and nappies, and the tax relief on wages is continuing, the PM said.
In 2017, the highest amount of foreign investment was attracted since 2009, EUR 1.84 billion, and 2018 is expected to be a record year for foreign investment, EUR 2 billion, he said. Last year, HRK 4.5 billion in subsidies was paid out to make farmers and fishermen more competitive and the development of rural areas more balanced, and this year HRK 9.4 billion has already been paid out as part of the Rural Development Programme. Tourism, which accounts for one fifth of GDP, had a record 2017 and this year is expected to be even better. Plenković also recalled that the education reform was launched, warned about negative population trends, and said the focus of the government's policy was creating a fairer society based on solidarity and strengthening families.
Last year, 2,320 young families bought a home thanks to housing loan subsidies, the number of citizens with blocked bank accounts was slashed from 325,000 to 274,000 and their total debt by over HRK 43 billion to HRK 19 billion. As for strategic goals, Plenković underlined entering the Schengen Area and said the government was preparing for Croatia's presidency over the EU in the first half of 2020. (Hina/foto: Lana Slivar Dominić)