Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic said on Wednesday that he was confident 2022 would be the best year in the past 30 years regarding the labour market.

Aladrovic made the statement while answering a question by HDZ MP Ankica Zmajic on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the labour market during Question Time in the parliament.

The minister said he based his optimism on data which showed that at the end of 2021 there were 35,000 more insured persons than in 2020, adding that positive indicators were visible also in the first 18 days of January.

He said that active employment policy measures, worth one billion kuna, would be implemented throughout this year.

At the start of the pandemic, the number of insured persons dropped by 25,000 in only 11 days, Aladrovic recalled, adding that the government had responded promptly, investing HRK 12.5 billion in protecting the labour market, which, he said, had even been improved.

Commenting on the latest COVID-19 figures, with Wednesday seeing what is so far the highest number of new infections, 10,427, Health Minister Vili Beros said that such a high number had been expected and he expressed satisfaction that the number of hospitalised patients had dropped by four from Tuesday, to 1,796.