Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has said that the government's decision to launch procedures to lease the state motorways in order to monetise the public debt is an act out of necessity.
"Obviously, there are shortfalls in the budget and obviously it is necessary to repay debts. Whether it (monetisation) is the best option, I cannot say now as I am not acquainted with the details, but this is an act out of necessity," Josipovic said in his office after he received teams for flood prevention.
The president pointed out the fact that leasing the motorways did not mean their sale but putting them under concession which was why, he said, one should not draw parallels between prices.
The government on Thursday adopted a monetisation model for Croatia's public debt for the national motorway authority - Hrvatske Autoceste (HAC) and the Autoceste Rijeka-Zagreb (ARZ) - through the issuance of a concession for the management and maintenance of motorways for a period of 30 to 50 years which foresees a one-off allowance of between EUR 2.4 to 3.2 billion, depending on the duration of the concession. However, the media on Friday warned that Croatia had invested EUR 5.5 billion in the construction of those roads.
Josipovic refrained from comments on a non-final court ruling in favour of loan-takers who sued eight commercial banks over the Swiss franc-pegged loans.
The president suggested considering a compromise on the matter.
