D&B: DECREASED CORRUPTION REDUCES INVESTMENT RISKS IN CROATIA

ZAGREB, June 13 (Hina) - Croatia's investment risk assessment could improve by the end of this year if corruption in the country decreases, said Richard McGuire, an analyst with the international business information and credit rating agency Dun&Bradstreet. At a seminar held in Zagreb on Tuesday, entitled "To Risk Is Risky", D&B officials and their representative for Croatia, Bonline company, presented the work of D&B, one of the largest international agencies for the credit rating of business operators and states. According to D&B officials, Croatia's current business risk assessment (DB5a) improved recently due to significantly improved political credentials, the strengthening of relations with the West, and good investment conditions. Risks which prevent a better assessment include corruption, a high unemployment rate, and limited restructuring. Croatia's future credit rating could be affected by the development of relations within the governing coalition, instability in the region, budgetary pressures and increasing competition from the West. The agency further estimates that, following last year's recession, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in Croatia will increase by 1.5 percent this year and by 2.5 percent in 2001. According to D&B's report on Croatia for June, Croatia has a credit rating DB5a, which makes it ninth on a list including 24 central and east European countries. According to D&B tables, which include investment risks in 131 countries on all six continents, Croatia is 82nd. This US agency currently has more than 60 million data on credit rating of different business operators in more than 200 countries in the world. The agency was established 160 years ago and its data base is one of the largest in the world. The agency employs about 16,000 persons in more than 40 countries throughout the world. It has some two million users and is one of the world's five leading publishers of business guides. (hina) jn rml