ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - At a meeting on Wednesday chaired by Governor Zeljko Rohatinski, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) Council discussed economic and fiscal trends in the past quarter and adopted monetary projection for the last
quarter of this year, the HNB said in a statement.
ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - At a meeting on Wednesday chaired by Governor
Zeljko Rohatinski, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) Council
discussed economic and fiscal trends in the past quarter and
adopted monetary projection for the last quarter of this year, the
HNB said in a statement. #L#
The HNB Advisory Council adopted a decision under which the
discount rate of the central bank is to be reduced from 5.9 to 4.5
percent. Even though the rate in the Croatian financial system does
not have any great significance as it does in other countries, that
change is important because it reflects a total fall in market
interest rates.
At the end of August the loan placing of banks was 24.2 percent
higher than the previous year. In July and August foreign currency
deposits grew again. Also noticeable was a high growth in deposited
monies of companies (52.1 percent on an annual level) which can
largely be explained with the new payment system but also
undoubtedly indicates the increased solvency of companies.
Preliminary data for the second quarter of 2002 indicate a real
growth in the Gross Domestic Product of 4 percent while that growth
in the first quarter was corrected from 4.6 percent to 4.3 percent.
According to available indicators it can be concluded that the
total level of prices this year will not be increased greatly
regardless of the fact that the inflation rate at the end of the yea
will depend on the movement of oil prices in the period left until
the end of the year.
The growth in prices until now was bellow the forecasted so the
increased prices of electricity should not overstep the expected
annual total inflation rate. The currency exchange rate has been
stable for some time now without any interventions by the central
bank.
(hina) sp it sb