ZAGREB, April 6 (Hina) - Croatia's Assistant Finance Minister Hrvoje Radovanic said on Tuesday that foreign loans could be significantly substituted with domestic loans in the next two years.
ZAGREB, April 6 (Hina) - Croatia's Assistant Finance Minister Hrvoje
Radovanic said on Tuesday that foreign loans could be significantly
substituted with domestic loans in the next two years.#L#
"Progress in that direction is expected in 2005 or 2006," Radovanic
said at a news conference on the latest issue of Euro-bonds amounting
to 500 million euros, or 3.7 billion kuna.
Annual interest on the bonds is five percent and they are due in 2014,
Radovanic said.
The state secretary at the Finance Ministry, Martina Dalic, said that
the largest part of the issue would be used to pay foreign loans in
the coming period, while some 150 million euros would be converted
into kuna.
She claimed that the latest issue would not cause an increase in the
foreign debt. The value of the bonds is some 3.7 billion kuna, and
this year's payments of the foreign debt total some five billion kuna,
Dalic said.
Asked to comment on the latest warnings by Croatian National Bank
governor Zeljko Rohatinski about a high foreign debt and criticism
that the budgetary deficit is being financed with foreign instead of
domestic loans, Dalic said the Finance Ministry was ready to take
measures to seek loans on the domestic market.
(Hina) rml