CRO CENTRAL BANK HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Oct 10 (Hina) - A seven per cent economic increase could be expected for 1996 according to economic data for the first eight months of this year, governor of the National Bank of Croatia Marko Skreb told a press conference in Zagreb on Thursday. According to movements of economic indicators and financial ratios, inflation should be lower than in 1995, he said. Industrial production, tourism, transport and services continued a revival tendency, rates and currency were stable, interest rates continued to decrease, and the balance of payments deficit remained low, Skreb explained. Speaking about a conference of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington at which a Croatian delegation took part, deputy governor Zdravko Rogic said that Croatia had a respectable place at the IMF and at the World Bank due to results achieved in the application of a three-year stabilization programme. Talks with the IMF and the World Bank on new arrangements and loans initiated in Washington would continue in Zagreb later this month, Rogic said. A IMF mission would arrive in Zagreb in early December for final negotiations on a three-year arrangement, he concluded. (hina) ha jn 101545 MET oct 96