ZAGREB, October 25, 2019 – Finance Minister Zdravko Marić and Croatian National Bank (HNB) Governor Boris Vujčić said that the progress made by Croatia in the latest Doing Business report was good news and that it should be taken as an encouragement for further reform.
Croatia has continued to improve its business regulations and is catching up with global regulatory best practices, the World Bank said on Thursday. Croatia placed 51st among 190 countries in the ease of doing business ranking, moving up from 58th spot last year.
Marić told reporters that the report provided a good picture and a good comparison with other countries in terms of where Croatia stands and in what direction it should be going. He said that all should be done to ease the conditions for doing business as a prerequisite for economic growth.
The minister said that the progress made was due to methodological adjustments and reforms that had been made in the last year, primarily with regard to starting a business, the transfer of ownership and obtaining a building permit.
“This improvement is good news and should encourage us all to continue in this direction. We should not be satisfied now and say, this is good, we have improved our rating, but should look forward,” Marić said, adding that further progress should be made in structural reform.
Marić recently led a Croatian delegation to the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington. He said that Croatia would continue to use World Bank loans for projects such as modernisation of land registries and further development of the judiciary for the purposes of the economy.
Vujčić said that the Doing Business report was a very important indicator of competitiveness and business climate. “I don’t think we should be satisfied with 51st place, but should move on and make the economy even more competitive and further improve the business environment,” the central bank governor said.
More news about doing business in Croatia can be found in the Business section.
