When the government changes, it is as if the state resets. This often stems from the desire of new political structures to show and prove that they are better and more capable than those from whom they took power, which usually ends with a series of brilliant and less brilliant ideas about how the state and its institutions should look and function.
So it is now. The new government led by HDZ and Most is seeking new solutions for the state development bank. The Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) will certainly be repositioned; the only question is how and in which direction. Croatia is no longer affected by war; it does not need a reconstruction bank but a proper investment bank. There are many ideas, one of which is for HBOR to become a state bank with branches. And to merge with Hrvatska Poštanska Banka (HPB).
Record Business Results Although HBOR boasted record business results for 2015 this Tuesday, dissatisfaction with its operations does not subside. Reasons: political staffing, selective lending based on political suitability, and partial lack of transparency. The new government knows it wants HBOR to participate more strongly in economic growth, but how – it has not yet revealed. One of the ideas was presented to the public by HDZ’s Minister of Entrepreneurship Darko Horvat in an interview for this issue of Lider, in which he stated that HBOR should become a state bank with branches throughout Croatia that takes on risk and provides entrepreneurial loans with interest rates lower than three percent. Although he recently announced the possibility of merging with HPB, he now only states that both banks will be equally capable.
The entire text can be read in the new issue of Lider.
