ZAGREB, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said on Saturday that it was positive news that ratings agency upgraded the outlook for Croatia's credit rating and pledged further structural reforms.
Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced on Friday Croatia's long-term credit rating remained at "BB" and short-term credit rating "B", but the rating agency upgraded the outlook from negative to stable.
This was the first improvement of Croatia's credit rating in nine years and it should certainly be seen positively, said Maric.
S&P also revised its growth forecast for Croatia from the previous 1.7 percent to 2.7 percent in 2016. While for general government deficit forecast, S&P revised its projection of 2.9 percent of GDP in July to 1.8 percent.
Maric said for further improving credit rating, the reform could not only be implemented in tax section but also in the fields of health system and public administration.
A package of reform measures would be in place to ease restrictions on doing business and investment by further reducing parafiscal taxes, he added.
Regarding to debts, Maric said the government would adopt a public debt management strategy before the end of this year and provide basic guidelines for debt management.
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