Croatia is approaching the introduction of the euro instead of the kuna, at least judging by the speech of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Martina Dalić. She stated that, in the opinion of the government and the Croatian National Bank, it is a good moment for the final introduction of the European currency. Moreover, she added that Croatia is an excellent candidate for the euro because of the structure of the financial system. Croatian citizens, it could be heard, save massively in the respective continental currency, and use it to carry out larger transactions, such as the purchase and sale of cars and real estate.
Nevertheless, there should be no doubt that there will be a fierce clash of opinions in the process of the announced public debate on "eurization" - as the procedure is colloquially called in Zagreb. It is about monetary policy and the permanent debate about the associated economic and political goals. On the one hand, economists and others dominate, who find that the previous attitude towards that area was good. And who find nothing objectionable in the fact that Zagreb satisfies the wishes of financial centers of power, such as the IMF or the World Bank.
On the other hand, the prevailing opinion is that such a monetary policy fatally harmed Croatian production and exports. Opposing thoughts are characterized by another obvious fact: the former are practically constantly, for over two decades, strongly represented in the government, political and financial - Agrokor is a typical example of such a policy that actually encourages imports. The latter are marginalized by the paper, media and politically, without scientific inferiority. One of the opponents of the ruling monetary policy is Drago Jakovčević, an expert from the Department of Finance at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb: "Croatia did not use the potential provided by its own money, but blindly agreed to depend on the policy of the European Central Bank. In doing so, she renounced the biggest stronghold of her sovereignty. But, with the exception of the mandate of Governor Pero Jurković, it should be said that the Croatian National Bank has always been inclined to obey the more powerful, whether the orders came from Vienna or Budapest, Belgrade or Frankfurt", states Jakovčević, concluding that the implications of this, unfortunately, far-reaching. "Money is a more powerful weapon than fire," he continues, "and the country that gives it up so easily, therefore, has not developed responsibility towards the people. You know, when Great Britain was refusing to join the European monetary union, they simply justified themselves with the frustration of wanting nothing but their Queen Elizabeth on their banknotes. Well, if we're going to do that, then feel free to write that Drago Jakovčević is frustrated if he will no longer have Radić or Marulić on his domestic banknote."
Beyond the irony of our interlocutor, however, there is a serious assessment of the need to pay attention to certain inflation rates: "The kuna is too strong, and I guess we are the only country that systematically destroyed its industrial and production capacities and built shopping centers on them." That's why Slavonia is moving out! Because we can no longer compete with cheap imports and the cheap euro! That currency is not in our interest, as it is, but in the interest of the big players."
Neven Vidaković, an economist from the Zagreb School of Economics and Management, believes that the euro - in itself - is an exceptional project. "More precisely, the biggest economic project of all time. But when you ask me about its introduction in Croatia", he tells DW, "then we are talking about the specific moment and the specific state of the EU, which should primarily be paid attention to. Not only or primarily to what the Deputy Prime Minister expresses. Because everything has been said correctly: we are indeed already intensively euroized, the euro is the new brand we are following." "Over time, Croatia's lower debt criterion will probably also be satisfied, given that we have state finances with practically zero deficits and GDP growth Vidaković notes, but immediately adds that unknown or even known dangers lie on the other side, that of the EU. Because, according to the announcements, Croatia would enter the process of introducing the euro, which can hardly be completed before 2022. And as it were, no one knows what the situation will be in the euro zone next summer, let alone for the next four. "Europe does not know the answer to how highly indebted countries, such as France, will repay their debt. Europe is not fiscally stable, so let's crash into the Eurozone. I would like to ask, for example: if the interest rates on the national debt of Italy, France and Spain are two percent higher, what is their fiscal plan? So let's not convince someone there that we will accept the euro, let Europe convince us! And we would have to be skeptical and think a hundred times over everything, which is not even close to the case", said Neven Vidaković, thus announcing a really stormy period in and around Croatian monetary policy.
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