Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said at a government session on Thursday that preliminary figures showed that the cost of the Covid-19 pandemic for the state budget amounted to 21 billion kuna (€2.8 billion).

In the first six months of 2020 budget revenue totalled 60.4 billion kuna (€8 billion), expenditure totalled 77.1 billion kuna (€10.2 billion) while the deficit was 16.7 billion kuna (€2.2 billion).

Revenue from taxes and contributions has dropped by around 7 billion kuna (€900,000), Maric said, adding that 2020 budget revenue was expected to be around 9.5 billion kuna (€1.2 billion) lower than originally planned.

Budget spending increased by around 11.5 billion kuna (€1.5 billion), and they are directly connected with the Covid-19 pandemic. More than half of that amount is assistance for job preservation – amounting to slightly over 6 billion kuna (€800,000) – and also purchases of ventilators and protective equipment.

The total cost of Covid-19 for the state budget to date is 21 billion kuna (€2.8 billion), Maric said, noting that these were preliminary data.

Maric said that most financing needs for this year had been fully met, and that the government is ‘ready for all future challenges.’

He added that work was underway also on the budget for 2021, which, he said, was a very important year when economic recovery was expected to start.

He noted, however, that one should not expect the economic sector to fully recover next year.

(€1 = 7.52 kuna)