EU asks Croatia to fix excessive deficit

The European Union (EU) on Tuesday asked Croatia to take actions to address its excessive deficit, which is expected to meet EU criteria by 2016.



Economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn told the press after an EU finance ministers meeting that "a clear path is set out for restoring sustainability to Croatia's public finances."

By April, Croatia will have to "undertake quantified measures to ensure progress towards the correction of its excessive deficit and debt" after which the Commission will assess the action.

Under EU law, member states' deficit ratio must not exceed 3 percent while Croatia's current deficit ratio stands at 6.4 percent.

"It will be essential for Croatia to take decisive action to achieve this, in order to restore confidence in the economy and create the conditions for a sustainable recovery in growth and job creation," Rehn added.

"The Commission will work closely with Croatian authorities to support their efforts to address the challenges the economy is facing and to build a strong basis for economic recovery, based on sound public finances," he added.