A survey of chief financial officers (CFOs) working for companies in Croatia showed that more than two thirds of CFOs polled expect the GDP to grow 2-3 percent this year, and almost half expect the unemployment rate to drop in 2018.

 The survey, conducted by the Deloitte consulting and auditing company, was presented at a conference in Zagreb on Wednesday. The survey was carried out in September and October 2017 in 12 central and eastern European countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

As for business environment prospects, the majority of CFOs polled said they expected an increase in the costs of labour, transport, real estate, and service and production. On the other hand, more than half of respondents in Croatia said they expected administration costs to remain the same, 45 percent expect the cost of capital to stay the same, and more than 90 percent of CFOs said they expect profit tax and VAT to stay the same.

According to the poll, the biggest risks facing companies in Croatia is the lack of qualified workers available, followed by downward pressures on market prices. Nevertheless, some 82.5 percent of CFOs polled said they were optimistic about achieving higher revenues in 2018 compared to last year, up from 61 percent who had said the same for 2017.

At the conference, Deloitte also presented its 2017 CFO of the Year Award, which went to Atlantic Group’s vice president for finances Zoran Stanković.