The consequences of global financial crisis on Croatian economy

This paper is concerned with the nature and consequences of the current financial crisis on the financial and real sectors of Croatian economy. The paper examines the sustainability of Croatian economy growth in the long-run since the global financial conditions have become much tighter and capital flows to Croatia decreased in 2008 and 2009. The analysis shows that the banking sector is slightly influenced by the global crisis because of the measures implemented by the Central Bank. However, both the rising external debt and the accumulation of household debts resulting from fast credit growth created a risk exposure. The real sector was affected much more, since the global financial crisis was merely a trigger for deeper structural imbalances, evident from the high current account deficit and higher public debt. There are fewer incentives for investments, since the government crowded out private investments.