Established 21 December 1990 Central bank of Croatia Founded 21 December 1990 | Website www.hnb.hr Headquarters Zagreb | |
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Governor Boris Vujčić, IPA: [bǒris ʋûːjtʃitɕ] Currency Croatian kuna
HRK (ISO 4217) Reserves 11,420 billion € [1] December 2011 Profiles | ||
Croatian national bank
The Croatian National Bank (Croatian: Hrvatska narodna banka or HNB; [xř̩ʋaːtskaː nǎːrodnaː bâːŋka]) is the central bank of the Republic of Croatia.
Contents
- Croatian national bank
- Foundation
- Functions of the Bank
- Monetary stability
- Financial stability
- Governors
- References
HNB was established by the Constitution of Croatia which was passed by the Croatian Parliament on 21 December 1990. Its main responsibilities are maintaining the stability of the national currency, the kuna, and ensuring general financial liquidity within the country. HNB also issues banknotes and holds the national monetary reserves. In performing its duties HNB acts as an independent institution responsible to the Parliament. The bank has a share capital of 2,500,000,000 Croatian kunas (c. US$ 450 million). HNB acts in accordance with Law on Croatian National Bank.
Foundation
On 21 December 1990 the Constitution of Croatia, determined in article 53, named the Croatian National Bank as Croatia's central bank, and declared its responsibilities: "Croatian National Bank is central bank of Republic of Croatia. Croatian National Bank is responsible, within its rights and duties, for stability of the currency and for liquidity of payments in state and abroad. Croatian National Bank is independent in its activity and responsible to Croatian Sabor. Profits made by Croatian National Bank belong to Croatian state budget. Position of Croatian National Bank is made by law." By amendments of Constitution of Croatia in 1997, Bank's earlier name National Bank of Croatia (Croatian: Narodna banka Hrvatske) was changed to Croatian National Bank (Croatian: Hrvatska narodna banka).
Functions of the Bank
The Bank performs all the functions of a central bank. The most important of these is supposed to be maintaining price stability and supporting the economic policies of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, thus promoting economic growth. HNB is not allowed to grant any loans to the Croatian Government.
Main goals of Croatian National Bank are:
Monetary stability
Stable prices is the main criteria for monetary stability. Stable prices are maintained by making sure price increases meet the Government's inflation target.
Financial stability
Maintaining financial stability involves protecting against threats to the whole financial system. Threats are detected by the Bank's surveillance and market intelligence functions. The threats are then dealt with through financial and other operations. The Bank works together with other institutions to secure both monetary and financial stability.