March 27 (SeeNews) - Croatia's government will draft next week a second stimulus package to support the economy affected by the coronavirus crisis, prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said.
At the moment, the government ministries are carrying out consultations on the new measures, with the aim of responding adequately to a situation that the world and Croatia have not seen so far, Plenkovic said in a statement on Thursday after a regular cabinet meeting.
"This crisis is unprecedented. No one has ever before faced such challenges," the prime minister said, adding that the crisis sparked by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will impact the economic system, the financial stability and the budget revenues.
"We insist to act quickly and effectively with the whole package of measures, and help the private sector," Plenkovic said, pointing out that the anti-crisis measures have two main goals - to preserve jobs and secure money for salaries.
The government adopted a first set of anti-crisis financial measures worth 30 billion kuna ($4.3 billion/3.9 billion euro) last week. Promptly endorsed by parliament, it includes deferral of payment of income and profit tax, social, health and pension contributions by three months, with an option to be postponed by a further three months.
The measures also include interest-free loans to municipalities, cities and counties, as well as to the country's health and pension insurance institutes up to the amount of the due taxes and contributions whose payment has been deferred.
Moreover, state-owned development bank HBOR and commercial banks are ready to freeze and delay loan repayments, as well as to provide financing for working capital and for restructuring of existing loans. This includes approving loans for financing the payment of salaries, overhead costs and other basic operating costs. In addition, the government will finance 100% of the costs related to the payment of minimum net wages if companies do not lay off workers.
Last week's package also includes special measures to support the tourism sector, which is one of the hardest hit by the current crisis, and contributes some 20% to Croatia's GDP.
Elsewhere in Southeast Europe, governments too have been adopting relief packages comprising zero-rate loans, deferrals on loan and tax payments and incentives for preserving jobs.
The number of registered cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Adriatic country rose to almost 500 by Thursday evening, with Croatia reporting the second death from the disease earlier that day.
(1 euro = 7.61182 kuna)