In his address to Croatian reporters, Harrold said that the World Bank was looking forward to Croatia's admission to the EU and that the Croatian people would have a great reason for celebration when it happened.
Describing Croatia's economy as externally-oriented, Harrold said that EU membership would be a fantastic opportunity for the country.
Commenting on the final stage of Croatia's EU accession negotiations, he said that all could be optimists believing that this long and exhausting process would soon be brought to conclusion which he said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso recently confirmed during his visit to Zagreb.
There is no specific date, everything need not be done by 30 June or 31 July. Croatia is coming closer and closer and has made excellent progress in the negotiations, Harrold said on the margins of a briefing on the Eastern and Central Europe (ECA). The briefing was held as part of the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
Croatia's delegation led by Finance Minister Martina Dalic and National Bank Governor arrived in Washington for the spring meetings.
Every country in the Emerging Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region is expected to grow in 2011, but some countries are vulnerable to rising food and energy prices, said World Bank executives at the press briefing.
"Rising food and energy prices could push 5.3 million more people into poverty across Emerging Europe and Central Asia," Theodore Ahlers, Director of Strategy and Operations of the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia region was quoted as saying.
"For most countries in the region growth returned in 2010, following sharp declines in 2008 and 2009. However, the region’s annual growth of around 4.5 percent was much lower than that of other regions in 2010, and projections for 2011–13 indicate only slightly stronger performance," Ahlers said.
Croatia was among the last countries to encounter the economic crisis and thus it is among the last one recovering from the crisis, Harrold said.
We see the beginning of the recovery and I project a positive economic growth in Croatia at a moderate 1.5 percent, Harrold said.
He went on to say that Croatia's economy was dependent on other European economies, notably those in the north which purchase Croatia's goods and provide the country with a majority of tourists.
Therefore Croatia needs progress in its surroundings in order to be able to recover itself, he said.
Croatia's major economic problems are a big budget gap of over 4 percent of GDP and a high state debt, and challenges will be to cut the gap without slowing down the economy, the World Bank executive said.