Croatia recorded a consolidated general government budget surplus of HRK 1.59 billion in 2019, or 0.4% of GDP, while the consolidated general government debt reached HRK 293 billion or 72.8% of GDP, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) reported on Thursday.

The budget surplus was thus revised up by HRK 36 million or 0.01 percentage points from HRK 1.55 billion in April. On the other hand, the consolidated debt remained at April’s level, but its share in GDP was reduced from 73.2% in April to 72.8% in October.

By comparison, in 2018 the budget surplus was HRK 962 million or 0.2% of GDP, while the consolidated debt was HRK 286 billion or 74.3% of GDP, according to revised data.

Statistics show that Croatia has recorded a consolidated general government surplus for the third year in a row, and higher than the previous year, while the debt to GDP ratio has continued to decline thanks to the greater growth of nominal GDP than of debt.

This year the surplus was mainly driven by the financial results of extrabudgetary entities and public companies and by the increase in tax revenues.

(€1 = HRK 7.57)