Croatia meets with IMF to discuss fiscal policies.
Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić and Governor of the Croatian National Bank Boris Vujčić met with representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on January 27, 2016, including the new head of the IMF Mission to Croatia Khaled Sakr and former Head of Mission Johannes Wiegand, in order to present plans of the new government regarding fiscal and monetary policies, reports Vecernji List.
Ahead of the meeting, Khaled Sakr said that he came to get acquainted with the plans of the new Croatian government. “I am here to listen to the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and the central bank Governor about their economic vision”, said Sakr, adding that reforms were very important for Croatia which has an enormous potential. He also expressed hope that reforms will be implemented in order to achieve the objectives of the government program.
When asked what specific measures he expected from the government, Sakr reiterated that he intended to listen to the Croatian leadership. He added that in Croatia there were a lot of imbalances, high unemployment, but also a lot of potential for continued growth of exports. It is important to ensure a good start in order to enable sustainable development based on the increase in employment rate and exports, said Sakr. Asked whether the IMF recommended any cuts or savings, he said that the next meeting will be held in a few weeks and will include more technical details and discussions.
Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said ahead of the meeting that the appointment of the new government coincided with a change at the head of the IMF Mission to Croatia. He pointed out that earlier yesterday he and Governor Vujčić met with IMF representatives to discuss monetary policies. “Of course, the IMF delegation was also interested to hear a bit more about the plans and ideas about economic policy and budget. We have presented to them the same program which we presented the other day in Parliament, what we want to do this year with the budget and what is our vision for the next four years”, said Marić.
Governor Vujčić told reporters before the meeting that monetary policy and the banking system policies will remain unchanged, and that for now there will be no change in neither the exchange rate nor the regulation of the banking system. “Together with the IMF representatives we have exchanged views on the economic situation, monetary and fiscal policies and the preparation of the new budget”, said Vujčić.
