07.04.2016.
Zagreb, 5 April 2016 - Today's conference, entitled "Loans and economic growth", organized by the Croatian Banking Association (HUB) in cooperation with the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP), was attended by more than 200 businessmen, representatives of the Government and Croatian Parliament, representatives of foreign embassies in Croatia, domestic and international financial institutions and the economic and financial experts and analysts, and sponsored by the Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.
In his opening address, Mr. Zdravko Maric, the Minister of Finance, brought to mind that the pre-crisis credit growth in Croatia totaled to 25, in some years even more than 40 percent, whereas today we see the opposite trend. "In the last six years, the growth of loans at the system level was about one percent, but the state loans taken out from the statistics, we have actually witnessed a credit decline of one percent. A great challenge has been put before us in that area. Our goal is to achieve sustainable economic growth which will be followed by the credit growth.“, said Minister Maric and pointed out: „The risks can only be overcome by the State, businesses and the financial sector together."