CROATIA'S CREDIT RATING DB4D REMAINS UNCHANGED

ZAGREB, Sept 5 (Hina) - Croatia's credit rating (DB4d) remained unchanged in September, according to the latest report of a leading international credit rating agency, Dun&Bradstreet (D&B).#L# D&B analysts see Croatia in a positive light thanks to some favourable trends in the first three months of 2001. According to the report, cited by a Zagreb-based company 'Bonline', those trends include a 4.2 percent increase in the Gross Domestic Product, a 5.3 rise in private consumption and a 11.6 percent rise in investments. The analysts ascribe the rise in spending to the improved liquidity in the banking sector and better results in the economy, which have resulted in a marked increase in loan provisioning to both households and enterprises. This led to a 23.2 percent rise in imports in the first half of 2001, whereas exports rose by only 2.5 percent. Therefore, Croatia's deficit in trade jumped by 52 percent as against last year. Hungary and Slovenia are still at the top of the D&B credit rating list of 24 East European countries. Their rating improved from DB3a to DB2d, which means that Slovenia and Hungary are now in a group of low-risk countries. The mark DB4d puts Croatia among countries with moderate investment risk. Croatia is the seventh placed with the same mark as Lithuania and Slovakia. (hina) ms