ZAGREB, April 27 (Hina) - The leading officials of the Croatian National Bank (HNB) are not dodging responsibility for their work, however, they cannot accept the blame for all problems in the Croatian banking system, HNB Governor
Marko Skreb said on Thursday. Following yesterday's decision of the Governor and the HNB Council to make their mandates available to the Sabor, reporters showered Skreb with questions as to why he had changed his mind over the past ten days. Responding to requests by some MPs to resign at a session of the lower house ten days ago, Skreb said he would not resign until he was told why he should do it. The HNB Governor today reiterated the assessment the HNB Council gave in its statement of yesterday that by refusing to accept the report on HNB's work and its financial plan, the House of Representatives demonstrated lack of confidence in the HNB leadership.
ZAGREB, April 27 (Hina) - The leading officials of the Croatian
National Bank (HNB) are not dodging responsibility for their work,
however, they cannot accept the blame for all problems in the
Croatian banking system, HNB Governor Marko Skreb said on
Thursday.
Following yesterday's decision of the Governor and the HNB Council
to make their mandates available to the Sabor, reporters showered
Skreb with questions as to why he had changed his mind over the past
ten days. Responding to requests by some MPs to resign at a session
of the lower house ten days ago, Skreb said he would not resign until
he was told why he should do it.
The HNB Governor today reiterated the assessment the HNB Council
gave in its statement of yesterday that by refusing to accept the
report on HNB's work and its financial plan, the House of
Representatives demonstrated lack of confidence in the HNB
leadership.
What follows from this is that there are no conditions for
successful and credible work of this body under such circumstances,
Skreb said.
By making their mandates available, members of the HNB Council
wanted to emphasise that they are not dodging responsibility for
their work to date and that they in no way question the right of MPs
to critically assess their work.
However, they also believe that they cannot take over the blame for
all problems in the Croatian economy and banking system, which some
are trying to accuse them of, Skreb said.
"For that reason I, too, as the HNB Governor, did not want to resign.
To accept my share of responsibility for decisions and measures
from within my jurisdiction and mandate is not the same as "to admit
the guilt" for all financial problems we have been faced with over
the last decade. This is the answer to the question "what was it that
happened between the parliamentary session and yesterday's session
that made the HNB Governor change his decision," Skreb said.
The other reason why HNB Council members believed making their
mandates available was more acceptable than resigning was their
belief that in this way they were making clear both to the domestic
and foreign public that they were ready to carry out their duties
without delay and with undiminished responsibility until the Sabor
adopted final decisions.
(hina) jn rml