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Trying to turn the taps back on

Croatia entered the financial crisis with its banking sector in good shape, but rising unemployment and fiscal pressures are dampening new lending activity. Writer Nick Saywell
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Trying to turn the taps back on

Goran Saravanja, chief economist at Croatia's largest bank, Zagrebacka Banka, is contemplating something of a novelty for the country's banking sector. "This is the first recession in Croatia's modern history where the banking sector has not been the main cause; actually, it's been a source of stability," he says.

At the Croatian National Bank (HNB), Boris Vujcic, the deputy governor, ascribes the stability to the central bank's monetary policy it has been following over the past few years. "It is the combination of the measures we have had in place - primarily the capital charge on credit growth over 12%, which effectively brought down the credit growth," he says.

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