CROATIAN NATIONAL BANK CONCERNED ABOUT HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

ZAGREB, Dec 1 (Hina) - The Croatian National Bank (HNB) Council on Wednesday considered the latest economic and financial developments, and adopted several decisions from within its jurisdiction, the HNB said in a statement. The Council concluded that there had been no major changes in economic and financial developments. The basic indicators of macroeconomic stability continue to be satisfactory: over the first ten months of 1999, retail prices were 4.1 per cent higher than in the same period last year, and currency rate oscillations remained within tolerable limits (during the eleven months of this year, the kuna lost 4.7 per cent of its value to the German mark, for the most part in the first quarter). According to financial indicators, there was an increase in overall foreign and domestic savings in Croatian banks. Nevertheless, the HNB Council believes this is not sufficient, especially if one has in mind some very unfavourable economic indicators, the main one being the continued increase of the registered number of the unemployed, of whom there are more than 333,000. The unemployment rate in late October was higher than 20 per cent, whereas the number of the employed was falling. Very unfavourable were foreign trade indicators. In the first nine months of 1999, exports amounted to some US$3.16 billion, while imports amounted to US$5.64 billion, which means that exports were 5.7 per cent and imports 9.7 per cent lower than last year. This resulted in a 14.3 per cent decrease of the trade deficit, whereas the current transactions deficit decreased by 19.8 per cent. (hina) mm rml