November 14 (SeeNews) - Croatia's parliament approved on Thursday the 2020 budget bill targeting a consolidated general government surplus of 629 million kuna ($94 million/84 million euro), equivalent to 0.2% of the projected gross domestic product, public broadcaster HRT reported.
The budget draft was adopted in a 80-41 vote with one abstention in the 151-seat parliament, HRT reported.
The 2020 budget is built on forecasts of 2.5% economic growth in 2020, lower than the anticipated 2.9% increase this year, the government said earlier.
The central government budget is projected to post a 2.15 billion kuna deficit in 2020, equivalent to 0.5% of GDP. Total central government revenue is planned at 145.1 billion kuna, up 5.4% compared to the revised 2019 budget bill, while total expenditures are projected at 147.3 billion kuna, up 6% on the year.
Prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said last week that the consolidated general government surplus is expected to increase further to 0.4% of GDP in 2021 and to 0.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022 from the 0.1% of GDP forecast for the current year.
He has said that the budget plan is based on projections for GDP growth of 2.4% in each of 2021 and 2022.
Also on Thursday, the parliament approved the revision of this year's central government budget, lifting revenue by 1.6 billion kuna to 137.7 billion kuna and lowering expenditures by 1.3 billion kuna to 139 billion kuna, HRT reported.
Croatia's consolidated general government budget was in surplus of 992 million kuna at the end of last year, equivalent to 0.3% of GDP, the country's statistical office said last month.
Last year was the second straight year in which Croatia reported a budget surplus. The consolidated general government budget closed 2017 with 2.9 billion kuna surplus, equivalent to 0.8% of GDP.
(1 euro = 7.45067 kuna)