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HNB Achieved a Profit of 927 Million Kuna in 2019

Boris Vujčić
Boris Vujčić / Image by: foto

The Croatian National Bank (HNB) achieved a profit of 927.14 million kuna in 2019, thus returning to positive operations after two years of losses, as shown in the annual report of the central bank published on Friday.

Namely, the loss of the central bank in 2017 amounted to around 2.5 billion kuna, while in 2018 it was 468 million kuna.

From last year’s profit, 117.4 million kuna was paid into the state budget, and 809.73 million kuna into the general reserves of the HNB.

– Last year, in which key steps were taken towards joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and the Banking Union, was successful both economically and in terms of achieving the goals of the HNB. As in all previous years, the prudent policy of the HNB, guided solely by professional principles and concern for the economic well-being of citizens and entrepreneurs, increased the resilience of the economy and created reserves for crisis action. The management of reserves, monetary policy, capital requirements for banks, payment transactions, cash supply, and everything else we did for the common good in the central bank in 2019 can only be assessed in the most demanding possible circumstances. At the time of the publication of this report, we know that 2020 is precisely such – emphasized among other things the governor of the HNB, Boris Vujčić, in the introduction to the annual report.

The total reserves of the HNB as of December 31, 2019, amounted to 13.7 billion kuna, which is 1.76 billion more than the previous year. 

International reserves at the end of last year amounted to a record 18.56 billion euros, which is 1.1 billion or 6.4 percent more than the previous year.

Registered a total of 506 counterfeit banknotes

In the comprehensive report of the HNB, spanning 262 pages, it is also stated that during 2019, a total of 406 counterfeit kuna banknotes were registered in Croatia, with a total value of 209.74 thousand kuna, of which 96.1 percent were counterfeit of poor quality. 

Compared to 2018, the number of registered counterfeit kuna increased by 1.4 percent.

Considering that during 2019, there were an average of 265,179,824 banknotes outside the HNB treasury and cash centers, 1.9 counterfeit banknotes were registered per million kuna banknotes in circulation, while in 2018, 2 counterfeit banknotes were registered per million banknotes in circulation, the report highlights.

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