NO DISSONANCE BETWEEN EXECUTIVE, MONETARY AUTHORITIES ON DEBT

ZAGREB, Aug 22 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan met Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac and Croatian National Bank Governor Zeljko Rohatinski behind closed doors on Friday for talks on the foreign debt and the balance of payments, the government's public relations office said in a statement, stressing that there was "no dissonance between the executive and monetary authorities". #L# The officials shared the view that attention should be paid to foreign borrowing and that the problem of a balance of payments current account deficit should be resolved by encouraging direct foreign investments and balancing the exchange of commodities and services with foreign countries. The Finance Ministry and the central bank concluded that the public debt was within acceptable limits, but that the country's overall foreign borrowing had to be slowed down, particularly debts generated by banks. "This matter falls within the competence of the Croatian National Bank, which is preparing certain measures to cushion the impact of negative trends," the statement said. "The state accounts for US$7.3 billion of the overall foreign debt of US$18.5 billion, or 37.8 percent," the statement said, adding that this percentage has decreased in comparison to the figures for the last three years. Expressing his satisfaction with today's working meeting, Prime Minister Racan said that the problems of foreign debt, balance of payments, monetary and fiscal policies would be discussed at one of the forthcoming government sessions. The government will also request a debate on these matters in parliament. (hina) vm