Croatia's public debt totalled 284.07 billion kuna (€33.4 billion) at the end of the second quarter of 2018, which is 3.8 billion kuna (€512 million) or 1.4 percent up from Q2 2017, while the debt-to-GDP ratio continued to decrease, the latest Eurostat report released on Tuesday said.

According to the report, Croatia’s public debt-to-GDP ratio decreased by 2.3 percentage points from 78.4 percent of GDP in Q2 2017 to 76.1 percent at the end of Q2 2018.

This is its lowest level since 2012, when the ratio stood at 69.4 percent. Although the nominal amount of public debt increased year-on-year, its ratio as share of GDP dropped due to faster economic growth which outpaced the growth of debt.

In Q2 2018 Croatia’s GDP grew by 2.9 percent year-on-year.

Quarter-on-quarter, however, Croatia’s public debt in Q2 increased by 3.2 billion kuna (€431 million), or 1.1 percent, with the debt-to-GDP ratio dropping by 0.1 percentage points.

The latest figures put Croatia among 22 EU countries recording a decrease in public debt-to-GDP ratio, for the second consecutive quarter. It is also among the 25 member states which posted a reduction in the debt-to-GDP ratio year-on-year.

Croatia’s debt-to-GDP ratio of 76.1 percent puts the country below EU average, as the government debt in the 28-country bloc at the end of the Q2 2018 stood at 81 percent of GDP.

Nevertheless, the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio still exceeds the 60 percent level set by the Maastricht criteria, a set of conditions that are required for the country to begin with the process of adopting the euro.

(€1 = 7.42 kuna)

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