July 8 (SeeNews) - The Croatian Banking Association, HUB, said on Monday the chief economists at the country's top five banks have revised their 2019 economic growth forecasts up to 3.0% from previously expected 2.6%.
The upward revision was supported by the better than expected GDP growth of 3.9% in the first quarter of the year, HUB said in a statement.
However, the revision should be considered with caution since the latest forecast has a very short range, from 2.8% to 3.2%, the statement noted.
The economists also projected an average GDP growth of 2.5% for 2020, expecting lower contribution of all aggregate demand components compared to 2019.
Next year, the economists see the unemployment rate declining to 6.8% from 7.4% projected for 2019.
The average growth of gross wages is seen slowing down to an annual 4.2% in 2020 from the anticipated 4.9% this year.
Asked when they see Croatia entering the eurozone, two economists pointed to 2023, two to 2024-2025 and one said 2024.
Their projections are broadly in line with the expectations of the government, which sent last week a letter of intent to launch the eurozone accession process.
The government in Zagreb expects that the economy will grow 2.5% this year, slightly decelerating from the 2.6% expansion in 2018.