The finance ministry is ready to begin enforcing the financial transactions and pre-bankruptcy act aimed at countering the rampant illiquidity, Finance Minister Slavko Linic told the government's meeting in Zagreb on Thursday.
We plan to solve the bulk of the problem in the first six months, he said.
By setting new deadlines for payments, we want to send a signal to all businesses that they must see to the payment of their obligations, including salaries, the minister added.
Deadlines for payments to the state and units of local government are very strict, in accordance with the European Union's directive on payments within 30 days, except for the health sector which has time frames of 60 days, he emphasised.
Linic presented alarming figures about illiquidity, explaining that overdue liabilities have reached 90% of all means available for transactions.
The government must take action now, and 400 employees will be hired for the beginning of the enforcement of the said legislation.
As many as 60 settlement councils will be set up to solve 23,000 cases in Zagreb and up to 14,000 cases outside the capital.
With the normalisation of the situation, the number of settlement councils will be cut to 12.
Businesses with blocked accounts are believed to employ 67,000 people.
