The chairman of the bank's managing board, Antun Kovacev, told a news conference on Wednesday that the greatest interest was shown in the agricultural sector in which, for instance, 31 million kuna of loans were given to long-term plantations and 135 million kuna of loans to cattle breeding.
This year, HBOR has approved 1.8 billion kuna of loans to support export-oriented activities.
Loans for small and medium-sized businesses are increasing, with about 573 million kuna of credits having been approved this year.
Next year, HBOR plans to invest micro-loans (30,000 kuna and under) designed for small business owners i.e. companies with up to ten employees.
Kovacev said he hoped that interest rates of commercial banks on HBOR programmes will remain between two (2) and six (6) percent.
He admitted that some programmes were risky and that there were problems in loan servicing, but this would not affect the business performance of HBOR which will realise a profit this year.
Asked to comment on the International Monetary Fund's suggestion about restructuring HBOR and including it into the state budget, Kovacev said the suggestion was a result of a lack of understanding.
Kovacev explained that the bank projected its debt for 2007 at 400 million euros, which was obviously "a warning signal for the IMF". However, 200 million euros are intended for the servicing of foreign loans due in 2007, which means that a net debt would be 200 million euros, lower than this year's debt.
With the adoption of the new act on HBOR and establishing that the stock capital of the bank be doubled to seven billion kuna, the Croatian Government showed that it was necessary not only to organise credit lines but to increase them, Kovacev said, adding that all European Union countries have such institutions as the HBOR, which is clearly connected with the state by being a state-owned financial institution.
(1EUR = 7.35 kuna)