THE MINISTER of Economy and Sustainable Development Tomislav Coric on Thursday expressed certainty that the GDP decline in 2020 would be smaller than previously projected, noting that Croatia had successfully adapted to the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic.

He underscored the tourist season, which was above expectations.

Coric said that the results in the economy were good but not at the same level as last year. There is a decrease in employment compared with same period last year, but employment increased from June to July, he said.

According to latest data by the national statistical office, there were nearly 1.53 million employed persons in Croatia at the end of July, an increase of 1.1% compared to June, but a decline of 4.6% on the year, while the registered unemployment rate was 9%.

"This shows that the tourist season in Croatia is at a higher level than expected and that a certain level of demand for labour has been generated," Coric said, adding that he was pleased that in recent months tourist turnover had been considerably higher than planned.

Coric believes that the GDP decline in 2020 would be slightly lower than the 9.4% decline in GDP projected several months ago.

The coronacrisis did not affect all sectors of Croatia's economy equally. The sectors of transport and tourism were hit the most, some other considerably less, and some not at all, Coric said.

Economy Minister noted that Croatia had very successfully adapted to the new circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Opening up towards the tourist season and realising as highest as possible turnover in tourism strongly correlates with the GDP, employment and all other key variables," he said.

Since the number of people in Croatia in recent weeks was nearly a quarter higher than before the summer season, it is not unexpected that the number of infections increased, he said.

Coric is pleased that the gross and net pay in Croatia has increased. According to today's data by the national statistical office, after several months of decline, the average net pay in June totalled HRK 6.774, which is a real increase of 1.7% compared to May, and of 3.1% compared to June 2019.

Coric said they would continue with measures designed to help sectors hit by the coronavirus crisis, depending on the development of the situation.

He said that the measure of paying HRK 4,000 as assistance for for workers' wages had met with a positive response from the real sector and had yielded results as the decline in employment in Croatia was minimal, compared with most EU member states.

Coric agreed that everything had its expiration date, but said the government's biggest focus was, in addition to citizens' health, the economy, so such measures aimed at helping the economy had to be very high on the list of priorities.