Croatia, which joined the EU as its 28th member on July 1, has been given some homework. The EU finance ministers have ruled that Croatia has excessive budget deficit and that they must reduce it by 2016.
According to the European Commission, Croatia’s deficit is expected to widen to 6.4% of gross domestic product in 2014 and their debt is forecast to rise to more than 60% of GDP this year.
As Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius told reporters, “Croatia has much to learn from its counterparts in the European Union, of course fiscal discipline is not very easily implemented. Croatia has a challenge before it.”
Croatia has been given the following homework. The finance ministers have decided that Croatia needs to meet a deficit target of 4.6% of GDP in 2014, 3.5% in 2015 and 2.7% in 2016. They were asked to submit a plan by April 30 showing how they plan to meet these goals.
