Asked by a NOVA TV reporter if his claim that "everything can be touched except pensions" still stood, Maric said, "That's right. Pensioners should know that pensions will be paid before the Feast of Corpus Christi."
Asked about EU aid based on a new solidarity instrument of €100 billion in job-retention loans, Maric said he hoped a compromise solution would be found as several members, such as Austria, had turned it down.
Asked if there was fear that because of the bad season, many, such as those renting apartments to tourists, would seek the government's help after the summer, he said it was one of the challenges.
He said this tourist season would not even come close to last year's and that in its GDP projection, the government expected tourism revenue to drop as much as 70%, "which has big repercussions both on individual budgets and the credit liabilities of some citizens and private renters."
He said moratoriums on loan repayments had begun but that banks must show "more openness" about that and about fresh cash flow. "We will do everything within our possibilities and legal activities. I hope banks will finally release that brake."
Speaking of the upcoming parliamentary election, Maric said it was "logical and justified" that he should be a candidate on a slate of the ruling HDZ, "to render my accounts in a way."
He said the campaign should focus on the economy, investment, structural reform, resilience, recovery and growth.