In order for Croatia to achieve a high rate of growth of the GDP requires at least two million employed people. Even if we were to employ all those registered with the national employment bureau we would still have a shortage in the labour force and so extending the age of retirement will have to wait for the future and not so near future, Mrsic said commenting the IMF's recommendations issued on Wednesday.

The average life expectancy in Croatia has not grown at the same rate as other countries in the European Union (EU) and that is also a reason why we should not implement the IMF's recommendation right now, he added.

He continued to say that some of the recommendations made had already been incorporated in Croatia's legislation but the rate they were to be implemented may be questioned. The Croatian government has chosen to implement austerity measures while at the same time encouraging investments and a growth of the GDP. The IMF's recommendations will be relevant if the government's measures prove to be a failure, said Mrsic.

The IMF mission on Wednesday in its conclusive report after a regular annual consultation visit to Croatia recommended that the retirement age rapidly be raised to 65 for women and then to extend this to 67 for both men and women. Other measures include penalties for early retirement and stricter controls of obvious abuse of the disability pension system.

The mission also recommends greater flexibility of the labour market, rationalisation of over staffing and salaries in the public sector, a review of the unsustainable pension and health systems and that zero Value Added Tax (VAT) rate on certain products which was to be increased to a minimal 5 percent should in fact be increased to 10 percent.