Croatia’s c-bank slightly improves 2024 GDP growth f'cast

"The Croatian central bank expects in 2024 an acceleration of the annual growth rate of the real gross domestic product (GDP) to 3.3%, from 3.1% in 2023, while in the next two years, the growth rate could gradually decline," it said in a June update of macroeconomic projections on Friday.

An expected pickup in economic activity in the whole of 2024 reflects an expected continuation of strong growth of consumption, supported by favourable developments on the labour market and expansive fiscal policy, followed by growth of foreign demand and recovery of exports of goods and investments by companies, the central bank added.

For next year, it upheld its GDP forecast at 2.8%. For 2026, the central bank cut its forecast to 2.6% from 2.7% projected in March.

The central bank expects that inflation, measured by the EU-harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), will significantly slow down - from 8.4% in 2023 to 3.8% this year, and will further abate to 2.6% in 2025 and 2.1% in 2026.