ZAGREB, Jan 18 (Hina) - Officials at the Croatian National Bank (HNB) are satisfied with last year's results and believe that goals set at the beginning of the mandate have been achieved, however, there is a possibility governor
Zeljko Rohatinski could leave his post. Sources at the HNB say the governor is considering leaving his post because the job was too demanding. Another possible reason for Rohatinski's plans could be the stand of some economists who have started repeating their warnings about the need to change the monetary policy and the issue of the depreciation of the kuna, which has been raised by some business circles as well. However, there have been no pressures by the executive authorities or wider political circles to change the monetary policy. Some senior officials at the central bank, too, say the government never tried to change the monetary policy, make any requests towards the HNB or subordinate the
ZAGREB, Jan 18 (Hina) - Officials at the Croatian National Bank
(HNB) are satisfied with last year's results and believe that goals
set at the beginning of the mandate have been achieved, however,
there is a possibility governor Zeljko Rohatinski could leave his
post.
Sources at the HNB say the governor is considering leaving his post
because the job was too demanding.
Another possible reason for Rohatinski's plans could be the stand
of some economists who have started repeating their warnings about
the need to change the monetary policy and the issue of the
depreciation of the kuna, which has been raised by some business
circles as well.
However, there have been no pressures by the executive authorities
or wider political circles to change the monetary policy. Some
senior officials at the central bank, too, say the government never
tried to change the monetary policy, make any requests towards the
HNB or subordinate the monetary policy to any other policy.
Still, there have been reports that governor Rohatinski could leave
despite the bank's assessments that the goals set at the start of
the mandate have been achieved. Rohatinski's objectives at the
beginning of the mandate included maintaining the stability of
prices and the rate, changing legislation, eliminating bottlenecks
in financial and monetary developments, and improving public
perception of what the HNB does and how it functions. All these
goals have been achieved, HNB officials say.
They also estimate that last year was successful in terms of
economy, including the monetary policy. The main goal - preserving
the stability of prices - was achieved beyond expectations. At the
beginning of 2001 the annual inflation rate was projected at 4.5%
and at the end of the year it was 2.6%. Such price movements were
also a result of a stable kuna rate. Last year also saw an improved
liquidity in the entire financial system and the adoption of a set
of relevant laws from the area of monetary policy and the central
bank met implementation criteria from a stand-by arrangement with
the International Monetary Fund (regarding net foreign currency
reserves and net domestic assets).
(hina) sb rml