December 8 (SeeNews) - The Croatian parliament on Wednesday approved the country's 2022 budget with a deficit of 2.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP), tailored to keep the country on track to join the eurozone the following year.
The budget was passed with 77 votes in favour and 47 against in the 151-seat parliament, the legislature said in a statement on its website.
Budget expenditures next year are estimated at 174 billion kuna ($26.1 billion/23.1 billion euro), while budget revenue is projected to be almost 164.5 billion kuna.
“We want this budget to speed up growth, the transformation of the economy and structural reforms, and to strengthen our resilience and deeper integration within the European Union,” state TV broadcaster HRT cited prime minister Andrej Plenkovic as telling parliament.
The 2022 budget is based on the assumption for GDP growth of 4.4% in 2022 and at least 9% for 2021, following 8.4% contraction in 2020.
Croatia's budget deficit this year is expected to stand at 4.5% of GDP.
(1 euro=7.524 Croatian kuna)