Zagreb - Part of the Parliamentary opposition said on Thursday the 2020 budget rejig was unrealistic and that the ruling coalition lived in "Happyland".
"The whole budget and the budget amendments were set on unrealistic and flippant foundations," Božo Petrov of Bridge said, adding that the Prime Minister and the finance minister did not live in the real Croatia.
Expenditures increased by 30%
Petrov said expenditures were increased by 30% but that nowhere in the country was it felt that one lived better.
Zvane Brumnić of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said that listening to the prime minister, he felt that Croatia was "Happyland." He wondered how many costs were deferred for next year, how many loans were taken against future revenues, and what the real budget deficit was.
Presenting the revised 2020 budget in Parliament, PM Andrej Plenković said the fiscal policy was transparent and that when the Government said the deficit would be HRK 29.5 billion, "then it is so."
As for borrowing, he said Croatia borrowed on the domestic and international markets, utilised the good cooperation with the central bank and the pension funds, and was absorbing European funds, and that this was why the state was functioning.
Plenković would not agree with Miro Bulj's (Bridge) claim that the Government had forgotten the Dalmatian hinterland when it came to infrastructure projects, saying the Government was pursuing an even regional development policy.
The 2021 budget envisages funds for infrastructure projects, notably roads, and the Government will continue to support the Dalmatian hinterland and the Lika, Banovina, and Gorski Kotar regions via a project named after them.
Tomislav Tomašević of We Can! said the latest tax reform round benefitted the wealthiest, to which Plenković replied that he hoped Tomašević had learned the lesson from the parliamentary election campaign.
"This alchemy you are talking about was advocated by Davor Bernardić, and (his) Restart Coalition ended up with 41 seats, and not 68 as predicted by (the SDP's Siniša) Hajdaš Dončić," said the Prime Minister.