ZAGREB, Feb 12 (Hina) - The Croatian National Bank's (HNB) Council stated at a session on Wednesday that measures undertaken to restrict the excessive granting of bank loans were necessary and that it would be unjustified to delay
them for a longer period of time.
ZAGREB, Feb 12 (Hina) - The Croatian National Bank's (HNB) Council
stated at a session on Wednesday that measures undertaken to
restrict the excessive granting of bank loans were necessary and
that it would be unjustified to delay them for a longer period of
time. #L#
During December loans continued to grow at an annual rate of 30.5%,
while the banks' foreign currency assets decreased. Loans granted
to companies increased at a rate of 22.7%, while those granted to
citizens grew almost twice as fast (43%). According to preliminary
data, this trend continued in January as well - the monthly growth
of loans was around 1.6%, which was less than in December (2.3%),
but still unusually high for the first month of the year.
The Council also considered the latest economic and monetary
developments. It stated that the end of last year had been marked by
lively business activity. GDP in the third quarter increased by
6.5% so that the annual cumulative growth rate reached 5%.
Industrial production, trade and construction continued growing as
well. Retail prices in January were 0.4% higher than the previous
month and 1.6% higher than in January 2002. The value of the kuna
compared to the euro at the end of January was 1.52% lower in nominal
terms than the month before and similar to the kuna-euro exchange
rate at the end of last year's January.
(hina) rml sb