As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, CNB Governor Boris Vujcic has received the Lamfalussy Award for 2021, named after the “father of the euro” Baron Alexandre Lamfalussy, of the Hungarian National Bank.
Vujcic was awarded for the Croatian monetary reform policy, which enabled the stability of the kuna against the euro, which subsequently enabled Croatia to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism back during the summer, and they also state his key role as deputy chief negotiator with the European Union (EU).
In his thanks for this recognition, Vujcic focused his speech on the issue of monetary policy in emerging markets when the largest central banks resort to unconventional instruments.
With humorous associations to the novel A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Monty Python, he emphasised the extremely low real interest rates that are likely to become permanent features of economies.
“The main reason why emerging market countries started implementing APP from today’s perspective is obvious – these programmes were successful,” said Vujcic, recalling that the CNB made one of the largest buyouts in emerging markets last year, about 5.5% of the country’s GDP, which is only about half the amount of the ECB programme in that year”.
He added that Croatia’s conclusion of a currency swap agreement with the ECB and its entry into ERM II also helped stabilise the market. He pointed out that the recent development of the monetary policy regime in emerging markets “cannot be taken for granted” because they do not issue reserve currencies and heavily depend on foreign borrowing.
The Belgian economist and central banker Lamfalussy was born in Hungary in 1929. He participated in the work of the Delors Commission, which laid down the foundations of the European Economic and Monetary Union, with a prominent role in founding the ECB and creating regulation of the European financial system. He died in 2015, the Lamfalussy Prize was established back in 2014 and is awarded for outstanding professional achievements and life achievements of individuals that affect the work of central banks and the functioning of the international financial system.
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