ZAGREB, March 4 (Hina) - Croatia's overall foreign debt exceeded US$15 billion and according to preliminary data of the Croatian National Bank (HNB), at the end of December last year it amounted to $15.2 billion.
ZAGREB, March 4 (Hina) - Croatia's overall foreign debt exceeded
US$15 billion and according to preliminary data of the Croatian
National Bank (HNB), at the end of December last year it amounted to
$15.2 billion. #L#
Croatia's foreign debt last year increased by almost four billion
dollars, from $11.3 billion at the end of 2001 to about $15.2
billion at the end of last year.
One should consider a fact that one third of last year's increase of
the external debt -- or about $1.4 billion -- is a consequence of the
euro currency movements as against the US dollar, considering the
fact that about 70 percent of Croatia's external debt is in euros,
while the indebtedness is expressed in US dollars.
Unlike the previous years when the main creator of new debts was the
state, last year that role was taken over by banks, the HNB said.
Of a total of $3.9 billion, which was a nominal increase of the
country's external debt last year, 1.4 billion is banks' debt,
while the state's debt amounts to $600 million.
Other sectors, mostly companies, last year increased their
indebtedness by about $300 million. Direct investments participate
in Croatia's external debt with the same amount. A half of the
direct investments refer to loans which banks abroad granted to
Croatia for the injection of fresh capital in banks which are their
subsidiaries on Croatia.
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