Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said on Thursday that he expected better-than planned results from the 2020 budget, and also added that to date HRK 74.7 million had been raised in donations for the quake-affected areas.

Addressing the press ahead of a cabinet meeting, Maric said that the expenditure side of the 2020 budget had almost been executed in its entirety.

On the other hand, the revenue side has been a little better than planned by the budget revision, by about HRK 1 billion.

“Hence, we can expect a slightly better result,” said Maric.

The budget revision conducted in mid-November 2020 projected a total budget revenue of HRK 131.1 billion and expenditure of HRK 155.9 billion.

Maric reiterated on Thursday that the 2020 budget was focused on jobkeeping measures and health safety and the circumstances caused by the earthquakes in Sisak-Moslavina, Karlovac, and Zagreb counties at the end of last year.

He recalled that reallocation of budget funds had provided funds for health and HRK 120 million from budget reserves were set aside as emergency aid for earthquake-hit areas.

Maric explained in detail how taxes would be defined on donations for earthquake relief, adding  that to date HRK 74.7 million had been received in donations to the state treasury.

The Tax Administration provides information on the matter on its website.

Enterprises in lockdown to receive compensation for fixed costs in January too

Minister Maric said that enterprises that are in lockdown due to extended restrictions imposed by the COVID response team will be eligible for compensation of part or all of their fixed costs for January too.

He recalled that the criteria for compensation of fixed costs is a fall in revenue of more than 60% in that enterprises with a loss of revenue of between 60% and 90% will be partially compensated while fixed costs will be entirely compensated for those enterprises with losses of more than 90%.