ZAGREB, Jan 16 (Hina) - The Croatian National Bank (HNB) Council on Wednesday discussed economic and monetary movements, assessing price movements in 2001 were marked by a low growth rate. This estimate is confirmed by price movements
last December: the average level of retail prices in December dropped by 0.2% in comparison to the month before, while the inter-annual retail price growth rate dropped from 2.8% in November to 2.6 percent in December. This rate is by 4.8 percentage points lower than the inter-annual retail price inflation rate from December 2000. The inter-annual basic inflation rate decreased from two percent in November to a mere 1.7% in December, which is 2.9 percentage points lower than in December 2000. The factors which led to the lessening of inflation pressures during 2001 include a drop in the price of oil and raw materials on the world market, increased competition on
ZAGREB, Jan 16 (Hina) - The Croatian National Bank (HNB) Council on
Wednesday discussed economic and monetary movements, assessing
price movements in 2001 were marked by a low growth rate. This
estimate is confirmed by price movements last December: the average
level of retail prices in December dropped by 0.2% in comparison to
the month before, while the inter-annual retail price growth rate
dropped from 2.8% in November to 2.6 percent in December. This rate
is by 4.8 percentage points lower than the inter-annual retail
price inflation rate from December 2000.
The inter-annual basic inflation rate decreased from two percent in
November to a mere 1.7% in December, which is 2.9 percentage points
lower than in December 2000.
The factors which led to the lessening of inflation pressures
during 2001 include a drop in the price of oil and raw materials on
the world market, increased competition on the domestic market, a
moderate increase in salaries and the fiscal authorities'
refraining from increasing excise taxes on drinks and tobacco.
Monetary movements in the last quarter of 2001 were marked by a
strong growth of citizens' foreign currency deposits. The influx of
foreign currency in the banking system increased the amount of
loans granted by business banks - during November 2001 bank loans to
other sectors increased by 1.6% and in late November they amounted
to 74 billion kuna. November was the second consecutive month in
which loans granted to companies were growing faster than loans
granted to citizens, which was reflected in increased investments
and production growth. It is expected that these developments will
stimulate a further increase in exports.
The HNB Council today also considered a report by an independent
auditor on an audit of HNB's financial reports. The audit of the HNB
balance sheet on December 31, 2000, and its profit and loss
statement and report on changes in the capital stock for the year
2000 was carried out by the Price WaterhouseCoopers audit company.
The audit was carried out in line with international auditing
standards announced by the International Accountants' Federation.
The auditor stated that the HNB financial reports presented the
bank's financial position in the said period in an accurate and
impartial manner.
(hina) sb rml