Macroeconomic Stability, Fiscal Policy and Taxation : National Development Strategy Croatia 2030 Policy Note

Croatia has made significant economic progress since independence, but the global financial crisis has exposed weaknesses in its economy and growth model. While growth has resumed in 2015, income convergence has been thrown back by the crisis and b...

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Main Author: World Bank
Format: Policy Note
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/431721635958873763/Macroeconomic-Stability-Fiscal-Policy-and-Taxation
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36560
id okr-10986-36560
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-365602021-11-13T05:10:46Z Macroeconomic Stability, Fiscal Policy and Taxation : National Development Strategy Croatia 2030 Policy Note World Bank FISCAL POLICY TAXATION MACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENT EXPORTS PUBLIC FINANCE GOVERNMENT DEBT EFFICIENCY PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM Croatia has made significant economic progress since independence, but the global financial crisis has exposed weaknesses in its economy and growth model. While growth has resumed in 2015, income convergence has been thrown back by the crisis and by the prolonged recession that followed and is currently proceeding only slowly. Low growth potential, deriving from low productivity growth, an ageing society, emigration, and a pace of capital accumulation lower than before the crisis, needs to be boosted for sustainable and reasonably rapid income convergence with the EU28. To this end, the export sector merits particular attention. Integration in global value chains and exposure to international competition would help to strengthen firm-level productivity, investment, and wages. Croatia has the smallest goods export sector among its peers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and while exports of services are strong thanks to a vibrant tourism industry, the potential for productivity improvements there is limited. Fiscal policy will need to remain tight, as high public debt, to a significant extent denominated in foreign currency, needs to be reduced and fiscal space rebuilt. However, there is scope for using expenditure policies, for instance better targeting of social assistance, to increase incentives for labor force participation, which would help counter adverse demographic trends, reduce the need for fiscal transfers and increase the scope for raising public investment, and reduce inequality and poverty. Lastly, the effectiveness and efficiency of public sector service delivery across almost the entire public sector will need to be raised. This will also serve to make Croatia a more attractive destination for investments, which in turn would help boost output, reduce unemployment, and provide more revenue. 2021-11-12T21:04:33Z 2021-11-12T21:04:33Z 2019-07 Policy Note http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/431721635958873763/Macroeconomic-Stability-Fiscal-Policy-and-Taxation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36560 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Policy Note Europe and Central Asia Croatia
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic FISCAL POLICY
TAXATION
MACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENT
EXPORTS
PUBLIC FINANCE
GOVERNMENT DEBT
EFFICIENCY
PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM
spellingShingle FISCAL POLICY
TAXATION
MACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENT
EXPORTS
PUBLIC FINANCE
GOVERNMENT DEBT
EFFICIENCY
PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM
World Bank
Macroeconomic Stability, Fiscal Policy and Taxation : National Development Strategy Croatia 2030 Policy Note
geographic_facet Europe and Central Asia
Croatia
description Croatia has made significant economic progress since independence, but the global financial crisis has exposed weaknesses in its economy and growth model. While growth has resumed in 2015, income convergence has been thrown back by the crisis and by the prolonged recession that followed and is currently proceeding only slowly. Low growth potential, deriving from low productivity growth, an ageing society, emigration, and a pace of capital accumulation lower than before the crisis, needs to be boosted for sustainable and reasonably rapid income convergence with the EU28. To this end, the export sector merits particular attention. Integration in global value chains and exposure to international competition would help to strengthen firm-level productivity, investment, and wages. Croatia has the smallest goods export sector among its peers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and while exports of services are strong thanks to a vibrant tourism industry, the potential for productivity improvements there is limited. Fiscal policy will need to remain tight, as high public debt, to a significant extent denominated in foreign currency, needs to be reduced and fiscal space rebuilt. However, there is scope for using expenditure policies, for instance better targeting of social assistance, to increase incentives for labor force participation, which would help counter adverse demographic trends, reduce the need for fiscal transfers and increase the scope for raising public investment, and reduce inequality and poverty. Lastly, the effectiveness and efficiency of public sector service delivery across almost the entire public sector will need to be raised. This will also serve to make Croatia a more attractive destination for investments, which in turn would help boost output, reduce unemployment, and provide more revenue.
format Policy Note
author World Bank
author_facet World Bank
author_sort World Bank
title Macroeconomic Stability, Fiscal Policy and Taxation : National Development Strategy Croatia 2030 Policy Note
title_short Macroeconomic Stability, Fiscal Policy and Taxation : National Development Strategy Croatia 2030 Policy Note
title_full Macroeconomic Stability, Fiscal Policy and Taxation : National Development Strategy Croatia 2030 Policy Note
title_fullStr Macroeconomic Stability, Fiscal Policy and Taxation : National Development Strategy Croatia 2030 Policy Note
title_full_unstemmed Macroeconomic Stability, Fiscal Policy and Taxation : National Development Strategy Croatia 2030 Policy Note
title_sort macroeconomic stability, fiscal policy and taxation : national development strategy croatia 2030 policy note
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/431721635958873763/Macroeconomic-Stability-Fiscal-Policy-and-Taxation
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36560
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