Finance Minister Zdravko Maric presented on Sunday a new government demographic policy measure, under which the non-taxable compensation for a newborn would be raised to 10,000 kuna (€1,348) from the existing 3,362 kuna (€453).

“The measure represents the government’s contribution to the demographic renewal,” Maric told the state broadcaster HRT.

The employers have the option to pay an award to their employees who give birth, which is now, at 10,000 kuna, three times higher than it was, he said.

He added the rules would go into force on Thursday.

An estimate published by the state statistics bureau in September this year showed that in mid-2017, Croatia had an estimated population of 4,124,531, with all but two Croatian counties recording drops in population in 2017. The figure, 1.2 percent lower compared to 2016, indicated that the steady decline in population figures continued in the last year.

A session of the Demographic Revitalisation Council was convened in July this year in order to tackle the accelerating population drain in Croatia. The President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, and Demography Minister Nada Murganic had discussed work on Sundays, cutting costs for families with more children, and the protection of pregnant women.

(€1 = 7.4 kuna)

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