ZAGREB, February 13, 2020 – The available monthly indicators suggest that Croatia’s real GDP growth slowed in the fourth quarter of 2019, while the labour market continued to see favourable trends, including increased employment and wages and a fall in unemployment, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) Council said a statement on Wednesday.
The HNB Council met to discuss the latest monetary and economic trends and analyse the financial stability of the banking system in the last quarter of 2019.
Inflation picked up from 0.7% in November to 1.4% in December, mostly due to food prices, notably a strong increase in pork prices, and oil prices.
Financing costs mainly continued to decrease as a result of the accommodative monetary policy.
The annual rise in bank loans accelerated to 4.2% at the end of 2019 on the back of the rise in household and corporate loans. At the same time, the annual rise in loans to non-financial companies was mostly due to the fading of the negative effect of the activation of state guarantees for shipyards in late 2018.
The available fiscal data for the third quarter of 2019 indicate a continuation of favourable trends in public finance as budget revenues grew faster than expenditures, the statement said.
More news about Croatian economy can be found in the Business section.
