"The recession has gone on for too long, five consecutive years, the public sector is exhausted but today we can send a positive message. The fall in GDP has significantly slowed down and is lower than forecasted by analysts", Vrdoljak told reporters in the ministry.

The State Bureau of Statistics on Friday reported that according to its estimate, Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter of this year fell by 0.7 per cent year-on-year, which is a lower fall than in the first quarter, when GDP slid by 1.5% and less than the 1% that had been forecasted by analysts for a survey conducted by Hina.

Vrdoljak expects that in Q3 GDP will be at zero and that in Q4 the signs of recession will have resided and positive trends will begin. With what percentage though, time will tell, he said.

He stressed that consumption has been stabilised as have all other indicators "which can send a message that we will not enter into a new recession period like the one that occurred in 2011 when Croatia was in the black one quarter and then went back into the red".

"That won't happen again, figures are more systematic, statistics are different and I think that this is rock bottom and that as of the next quarter Croatia is going in a positive direction", Vrdoljak said.

He expects that shipbuilding and the delivery of ships, which were absent in Q2, will impact GDP in the second half of the year.

Asked about the lack of investments in the preceding period, Vrdoljak claimed that investments are taking their course and that public companies are meeting their plans.

He expects that this year Croatia's competitiveness will be better and that the fall in GDP which has been occurring for years will have stopped.

"We have to start rising. And this year we will. To what measure, though, we'll see", Vrdoljak concluded.

Tourism results most likely impacted the slower fall in GDP, Tourism Minister Lorencin claimed at the conclusion of the Golf & Country Club Zagreb investment.

"The facts are that financial indicators in the first seven months of this year are 6.6% better than last year", said Lorencin, describing this year's tourism season as successful.

"Data for August should show good tourism numbers, at the level of last year, and we have a positive outlook for the post-season", Lorencin said, adding that Croatia might even surpass last year's figures.

The eurozone is showing indicators that it is exiting the recession and our economy is dependent on that market, said Lorencin, who believes that once the eurozone exits the recession, Croatia's economy too will head in that direction.