She will attend the Croatian National Bank conference in Dubrovnik.
An international banking conference begins in Dubrovnik on Monday. One of the participants is the director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde, reports Poslovni.hr on 10 July 2017.
In an interview ahead of Lagarde’s visit, the Governor of the Croatian National Bank Boris Vujčić commented on Croatia’s economic future. He warned about a significant gap between the Old and the New Europe and added that the situation with Agrokor has not yet been solved.
“It is better to be within the EU, because of the credibility of the state, because of the support from the European Union, because of the EU funds, even more so now that we have become a country with the balance of payments surplus, which is a consequence of the entry into the EU. This does not mean that we can relax or not listen to advice. Not all advice is always correct, but we do know that the International Monetary Fund generally gives good advice,” said Vujčić.
Vujčić warned that Croatia’s economic growth or living standards would not reach the levels of the Old Europe for many years. He added that was the reason why they decided to organise the conference, to see what the New Europe still needs to learn to get closer to the Old Europe with regards to the standard of living.
“It is clear that no country of the New Europe will get close to the living standards of Germany, for example, in the next 25 years. It is important to determine which reforms should be made and this is why the Croatian National Bank has organised this conference together with the IMF.”
Asked whether the government was carrying out any reforms that will benefit future generations, Vujčić was not quite sure. “One of the positive reforms is the liberalisation of professional services which has been announced, which should allow for easier entry of competition to the market. These are 104 individual structural reforms that have been proposed for professional services, from public notaries to taxi drivers, driving schools, etc. Such changes are needed in all sectors.”
“Our society will be older on average, and we will need to work longer. And we are not just older but also healthier on average, and we live longer, so why should we not work longer? We should not be afraid or opposed to it, that is in the interest of all of us,” said Vujčić.
