The Ministry of Finance has responded to the proposals of the Franak Association for alleviating contractual obligations from loans with a currency clause in Swiss francs, stating only that it is working on amendments to existing laws and the adoption of new laws that will better protect consumers.
From Linić’s ministry, it was conveyed that in cooperation with the Croatian National Bank (HNB), amendments to the Law on Credit Institutions are planned to regulate the issue of interest rate variability, and they emphasize that they are aware of the importance of adopting the Law on Personal Bankruptcy for Consumers, which is under the Ministry’s jurisdiction.
– The Franak Association wonders what the Ministry of Finance has been doing for a full month to respond with such a completely unacceptable answer in which nothing has been said. It is evident from the response that the Ministry of Finance does not consider it necessary or obligatory to provide any reasoned commentary, even though this concerns over 100,000 loans and nearly half of all long-term credit placements in the Republic of Croatia – they state from the Association, which has proposed three measures to Linić’s ministry.
By rejecting the proposed measures (recalculation and conversion of the remaining principal at the initial exchange rate and such legal regulation of interest that would prevent the transfer of all market risks onto the shoulders of debtors), a political decision has been made that directly assists foreign commercial banks in continuing to take excess profits, at the expense of financially devastated citizens, clients of these banks, who have taken long-term loans with a CHF currency clause, warns the Franak Association.
