CROATIAN NATIONAL BANK COUNCIL HOLDS SESSION

ZAGREB, May 9 (Hina) - The Croatian National Bank (HNB) Council on Wednesday held a session at which it discussed the latest monetary and economic developments, reports on HNB's work in 2000 and a report on the work of the Croatian Monetary Institute in 2000, and adopted several decisions concerning foreign exchange operations and banking. The session was chaired by HNB Governor Zeljko Rohatinski, the central bank said in a statement. Following last year's increase of Gross Domestic Product by 3.7 percent, this year's available data indicate that economic activities in the most important sectors have continued to perk up. The volume of industrial production in March was 4.6 percent bigger than in the same month last year and the quarterly increase was 5.5 percent in comparison to the same period last year. Reports saying that the production of capital goods has been experiencing the fastest growth rate also herald the livening up of investment activities. This assumption is supported by data on the banks' credit activity, the statement reads. Retail prices in April were 1.4 percent higher than in March and 6.8 percent higher than the year before. Banking experts have estimated on the basis of several indicators that the sustainability of a projected inflation rate of 4.5 percent is not questionable for the time being. However, the HNB warns about the effects increases in the price of oil products could have on the movement of prices. (hina) sb rml