Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday the government could not touch pensions, not because it was noble and good-natured, but because they were so low that pensioners would be completely in danger if it did.
He was speaking at the signing of an agreement on the establishment of the National Council for Pensioners and the Elderly with the leaders of three pensioners' organisations.
Agreements are a form of social dialogue which are necessary because times are hard and demanding and pensions are low, said Milanovic. "At this moment, we can't raise them because there are no conditions for that, salaries either. We can only guarantee that, as low as they are, the stay like this."
Milanovic reiterated that the number of people in Croatia who worked was too low and the number of pensioners too high.
A too small number of people generate social income, which should be changed, and the government and the business sector must see to it that more than 1.5 million people in Croatia work, he said.
"The way things are, given that so few of us work, we have a high productivity and a relatively high social product," said Milanovic.
Union leader Vladimir Nozaric said today's agreement would make it possible for pensioners' organisations to participate in the drafting of bills and regulations relating to pensioners.
"We fully support your resolute reaction to the downgrade of Croatia's credit rating because we know that the arrival of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) would result in a further slashing of pensions," he told Milanovic.
Milanovic said it was easiest to get mad at the rating agencies but that it was the wrong approach. "It should be taken note of. There's no drama. It can have a minimal impact on Croatia's real rating but it can also have a positive impact if we change some things. The gist of the story is that we should run the Croatian policy together, aware of our limits, that we are a small state," he added.
