Croatia - Factors to Watch on November 16

ZAGREB, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Following are the main news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Croatia's financial markets on Monday. PRESS DIGEST ------------ CROAT WORKERS' EDUCATION BELOW EU LEVELS According to data compiled by Eurostat and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, people with some higher education degree make up a mere 16.9 percent of the workforce in the 25-54 age group, which is well behind European Union's average of 26 percent. Jutarnji list, page 18 NEW BUDGET TO BE DEFINED NEXT WEEK Commentary: The outline of the new 2010 budget is to be formed by next week, and it seems certain that the government will revise some of the 180,000 privileged pensions. According to sources, Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor asked for a revision of the 2 billion kuna ($410.2 million) spent on intellectual services, and the government also hinted that some measures to improve personal spending and revive housing construction were likely, as well as a significant reduction od local government. Poslovni dnevnik, page 2 KALMETA TO CUT ROAD INVESTMENTS BY 60 PERCENT Transport Minister Bozidar Kalmeta revealed the details of the new four-year road building plan, which shows a 60 percent cut in investments compared to the plan originally proposed in June. According to the new plan, some 16 billion kuna will be spent on road construction and maintenance by 2012, significantly down from the originally planned 39.5 billion kuna. Poslovni dnevnik, page 3 Reuters has not verified the media reports, nor does it vouch for their accuracy. ------------------------------------------------------- For real-time Croatian index quotes, doubleclick on: Zagreb Stock Exchange index Zagreb Stock Exchange live trade Croatian Eurobonds Croatian local bonds Croatian Kuna/euro trade Other related news: Croatian equities Croatian money Croatia Indicators Croatia debt Emerging forex All emerging markets E.Europe equities Stock markets TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch ($1=4.876 Croatian Kuna) Keywords: CROATIA FACTORS/ (Zagreb Newsroom [phone], fax [phone]; [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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