Over the course of the recession during the last six years, central bank officials in Croatia have on numerous occasions stated there is a strong need for structural reforms in Croatia and that there is no need for monetary policy reforms. This short paper investigates why the CNB is only...

In this study, we begin by assessing the ability of sovereign credit ratings to anticipate crises. In addition, given the wave of sovereign credit ratings downgrades that have followed the crises in Asia, we investigate formally the extent to which credit ratings are reactive. Along the way, we...

The preceding sections have predominantly focused on the antecedents of financial crises. Namely, the emphasis has been on the ability of a variety of indicators, including the credit ratings, to anticipate crises and characterize the extent to which a country is vulnerable. An application of...

This note reviews the theories as to why financial crises spill over across national boundaries. We discuss alternative frameworks ranging from bilateral trade links to more complex financial interconnections via banks and other investors. We review the evidence on which channels of contagion...

This study answers some elimentary questions about Dutch shareholding structures, such as the structure in the Netherlands in comparison with other countries and the change in investors groups' interests in shares investments. We concentrate on banks. Banks have a particular position in that...

The pricing of interest rates on retail deposits in Croatia does not follow standard term structure or quantity premium for pricing deposits. Banks often pay no premium on time or on quantity of deposits. On one hand this is not surprising since the banking sector has been very liquid for last...

Protracted expansionary monetary policies in advanced countries have renewed the debate over policy options to cope with large capital inflows that drive credit expansions in emerging economies. In a forthcoming paper, we show that during capital inflow bonanzas credit grows more rapidly and its...

The paper analyses the new measure implemented by Croatian national bank (CNB). The measure is a decrease in the reserve requirement, but the actual release of funds is contingent on increase in lending to firms. This new measure is significant because for the first time in Croatia there is a...