As of July, the government will no longer apply horizontal job-keeping measures and in the future its support will depend on the needs of individual sectors, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a government session on Thursday.

He announced that the government would follow developments in agreement with employers’ representatives from individual sectors and respond on time if necessary.

“The government will continue to assist entrepreneurs also with active employment policy measures in which it plans to invest more than one billion kuna in 2021,” he said.

He noted that the government would continue supporting the scheme for shorter working hours, intended for employers whose scope of business has been affected by the coronavirus crisis.

As part of that scheme, to last until the end of the year, the state will cover up to 90% of the wage with contributions, the maximum amount being HRK 3,600 plus contributions.

Plenkovic noted that the government was wrapping up its measures of horizontal support at a time when all indicators proved the success of its scheme for support to employers, small business owners and workers during the pandemic.

He said that from March 2020 to 30 June 2021, HRK 17 billion, including contributions, had been provided to help employers keep jobs and that the government’s measures had so far covered close to 700,000 workers and more than 120,000 small businesses and employers.

The number or pension insurees is by 56,000 higher than at the end of June 2020 and by 4,000 compared to 2019, while the number of job-seekers has dropped by 8,500 from March 2020, he said.

He noted that the relevant indicators signalled that time had come to “move on from the phase of job-keeping to a phase of job creation.”

Commenting on the latest issue of a seven-year HRK 9 billion bond on the domestic market at an interest rate of 0.50% and a yield to maturity of 0.533%, Plenkovic said the interest was much higher, HRK 19 billion.

Very favourable conditions were achieved, especially given the fact that a large portion of the issue will be used to refinance the current bond issue that matures on 8 July in the amount of six billion kuna, he said, noting that more than HRK 135 million in interest would thus be saved.