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According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) data for Q2 2009 that were made public on Monday, 25 days before the official deadline, the Croatian Economy noted a 6.3% GDP decreased, in comparison to the same period last year.

Although this negative trend continues to be high, the economist Željko Lovrinčević thinks it brings a spark of optimism. “We are seeing positive indicators as the downturn slightly decreased from a negative GDP of 6.7% in the Q1.” This signifies that the economy has hit rock bottom, the fall has stopped and we should see a recovery in the next quarter. This is why we should expect to see the downturn below 5 % in the third quarter,” says Lovrinčević. According to him, the Q2 results prove that Croatia managed to survive the crisis better than production-based and other stronger economies, such as Slovenia that noted a downturn of 9.3% in the same period, due to the fact that its economy is more service-oriented. “With all the changes happening around us, these Q2 results will enable us to maintain the same country rating and is a good message to investors for the next investment wave of foreign investment,” says Lovrinčević.