Croatia's general government debt reached 340.8 billion kuna (€45.3 billion) or 86.1 percent of GDP in the first half of 2021, the Croatian Central Bank (HNB) said on Wednesday in a new report on general government debt for the end of June 2021.

Compared with the previous data, released in late September, general government debt is now slightly higher, but its share in GDP is lower. According to the previous report, consolidated general government debt at the end of June 2021 was 340.6 billion kuna or 87.4 percent of GDP.

Compared with June 2020, general government debt increased by 11 billion kuna or 3.4 percent. The increase was due to the rise in internal debt of 5.2 billion kuna or 2.4 percent, and the rise in external debt of 5.9 billion kuna or 5.2 percent.

The debt to GDP ratio increased by 3.5 percentage points from June 2020, when it was 82.6 percent.  However, it decreased by 3.9 percentage points from the first quarter of this year, when it was 90 percent.

Compared with the first quarter of 2021, internal debt rose by 2.7 billion kuna or 1.2 percent, while external debt fell by 2.4 billion kuna or 2.0 percent.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)