Croatian Opposition May Seek IMF Loan Should They Win Election
Croatia’s opposition would probably seek funding from the International Monetary Fund to lower the country’s financing costs if it wins elections on Dec. 4, a strategist for the Social Democrats said.
The vote pits the Social Democrats and three other parties that have formed the Alliance for Change against Premier Jadranka Kosor’s ruling Croatian Democratic Union. The Alliance had 37 percent support in a Sept. 26 IPSOS-Puls survey of 1,000 people, compared with 20 percent for Kosor’s party, which has led Croatia for 16 out of the last 20 years.
“In 2012, we will probably need to negotiate and use the IMF facility as its interest rate is much lower than what Croatia would get elsewhere,” Slavko Linic, strategist for the Social Democrats, told Nova TV late yesterday.
Linic was deputy premier in 2003, the last time Social Democrats were in power and now is a candidate for a top economic post if the Social Democrats form the next administration.
Croatia, which is preparing to become the European Union’s 28th member in July 2013, is taking longer than its Balkan neighbors to climb out of a recession that began more than two years ago. The World Bank on Oct. 14 lowered its 2011 economic growth forecast to 0.8 percent from 1 percent.
No margin of error was given in the IPSOS-Puls poll.
To contact the reporter responsible for the story: Jasmina Kuzmanovic in Zagreb at jkuzmanovic@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for the story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net
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