In September 2018 Croatia's public debt totalled 281.8 billion kuna (€37.97 billion), down 0.9 percent year-on-year. The public debt-to-GDP ratio also dropped, to 74.5 percent, which is its lowest level since 2012, when it stood at 69.4 percent.

The 2.5 billion (€337 million) of state-issued bank guarantees for the cancelled projects at Uljanik shipyard enforced on the last day of 2018 would affect the balance of the general budget and public debt trends, Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) analysts said. They added that the cost so far only covered the principal, and that interest would still need to be paid by the government.

However, overall fiscal results are expected to remain favourable. This means a solid primary surplus, and a further decrease of the public debt-to-GDP ratio for the fourth year running, they added.

Once statistics are released for the end of 2018, RBA analysts predict that the public debt-to-GDP ratio would remain below 75 percent, nearly 10 percentage points below its record high level at the end of 2013, when it stood at 84 percent.

(€1 = 7.42 kuna)

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