Croatia submits reform project to European Commission

Croatia has sent to the European Commission (EC) a preliminary draft on planed reforms for tackling macroeconomic imbalances, Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Branko Grcic said on Monday.
The draft included the reforms in a broad scale in all sections, he said, adding some were been implementing, some were new measures.
But the government still have to draw up some fiscal measures and would finish them in this week, he said.
He ruled out any financial cuts on salaries, pensions or social benefits.
The EC warned Croatia in February 2015 that Croatia was experiencing excessive macroeconomic imbalances that require resolute political action and specific monitoring.
The Croatian government has to submit its reforms projects by the end of April, while the EC would discuss it in May. If the EC finds the reform project does not guarantee the correction of the excessive imbalances, the EC will opt for activating the Excessive Imbalance Procedure for Zagreb.
The biggest indicators of Croatia's excessive imbalances are: subdued economic growth, delaying restructuring of firms, the dismal performance of employment, as well as weak external competitiveness, rising general government debt, household and corporate debt, according to the EC.