Executive summary 1

1. Scene setter: economic situation and outlook 3

2. Imbalances, risks and adjustment 10

2.1. Productivity and the allocation of resources 11

2.2. External sustainability and competitiveness 25

2.3. General government debt, fiscal framework and public sector governance 37

2.4. Corporate and household debt and financial sector stability 51

3. Other structural issues 63

3.1. Social policy, pensions and active labour market policies 65

3.2. Healthcare system 73

3.3. Network industries and environment 77

3.4. Education and innovation 81

3.5. European Structural and Investment Funds 85

AA. Overview Table 87

AB. Standard Tables 93

LIST OF Tables

1.1. Key economic, financial and social indicators 8

1.2. MIP scoreboard 9

AB.1. Macroeconomic indicators 93

AB.2. Financial market indicators 94

AB.3. Taxation indicators 95

AB.4. Labour market and social indicators 96

AB.5. Expenditure on social protection benefits (% of GDP) 97

AB.6. Product market performance and policy indicators 98

AB.7. Green growth 99

LIST OF Graphs

1.1. Croatia: External and domestic demand, contribution to growth 3

1.2. Real imports and real exports in Croatia and EU-10 4

1.3. Registered employed population and unemployment rate 4

1.4. Wage and price growth 5

1.5. Real estate price 6

2.1.1. Growth accounting, 2002-2008 average (%) 11

2.1.2. Growth accounting, 2008-2013 average (%) 11

2.1.3. Productivity and employment dynamics (2008-14) 12

2.1.4. Distribution of firms according to productivity and employment dynamics 12

2.1.5. Migration flows and total population 14

2.1.6. Productivity vis-à-vis EU-28 and average earnings in Croatia, EU and other OECD countries (2014) 16

2.1.7. Share of temporary and recently employed (less than three months) workers 17

2.1.8. Average monthly earnings by educational attainment (2010) 18

2.1.9. Unemployment rate by education level (2013) 18

2.2.1. Net lending position – transaction side 25

2.2.2. Net lending position - financing side 25

2.2.3. Real Effective Exchange Rates, ULC- and export prices-deflated 26

2.2.4. Competitiveness and export performance (2008-2014) 26

2.2.5. Elasticity of exports to income, price and distance 27

2.2.6. Decomposition of changes in export market shares 27

2.2.7. SITC structure of goods exports in Croatia and peer economies (percentage of total exports, 2013) 28

2.2.8. BEC structure of exports of goods in Croatia and peer economies (percentage of total exports, 2013) 29

2.2.9. Import content of exports (2005) 29

2.2.10.Internationalisation relevant indicators – distance from EU average (std. dev.) 30

2.2.11.Export of services 31

2.2.12.Revenue from tourism and number of nights in tourism establishments 31

2.2.13.BEC Structure of imports, 2013 32

2.2.14.Import elasticities with respect to final demand components 34

2.2.15.Balance of primary and secondary incomes 35

2.2.16.Net international investment position (NIIP) 35

2.2.17.CA surplus necessary to stabilise NIIP at -60% of GDP by 2024 - sensitivity analysis 36

2.3.1. General government debt 37

2.3.2. Development of general government debt and deficit and Maastricht criteria 37

2.3.3. Contributions to change in general government debt-to-GDP ratio 38

2.3.4. Structure of expenditure by COFOG function (2012) 41

2.3.5. Outstanding liabilities of hospitals 41

2.3.6. Structure of expenditure by ESA category (2013) 42

2.3.7. Total factor productivity by sector and ownership (average for 2006-13) 49

2.4.1. Money (M1) and domestic credit growth 51

2.4.2. Consolidated debt-to-GDP ratio, Non-Financial Corporations 52

2.4.3. Corporate foreign debt 53

2.4.4. Debt-to-GDP ratio - Households sector 57

2.4.5. Domestic credit institutions’ claims on households by type and currency 58

2.4.6. Financial sector stability and profitability 60

3.1.1. Labour market and social indicators 65

3.1.2. Population structure 68

3.1.3. Many Member States achieve higher pensions with lower expenditure 69

3.1.4. New pensioners (excluding special pensions) 69

3.1.5. Pensioners (Q3‑2014) 70

3.4.1. Strategies judged very important by innovative and non-innovative enterprises (2012) 82

3.4.2. R&D intensity by sector (2013) 83

LIST OF Boxes

1.1. Economic surveillance process 7

2.1.1. Doing business in Croatia 20

2.3.1. Long-term projections of general government debt 39

2.4.1. Corporate debt in private and publicly owned companies 54

LIST OF Maps

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In 2014, Croatia’s economy contracted for its sixth year in a row and although the recession is expected to come to an end in 2015, the economic outlook remains bleak. The pace of the contraction abated over the course of 2014, bringing the overall fall in GDP to -0.5 %. Growth is set to be just above zero in 2015 and to pickup timidly to 1% in 2016. Against this background, the unemployment rate is not expected to decline significantly from the current 17%. Internal demand should progressively start contributing positively to growth on the back of investments spurred by EU funds, while the export performance should remain strong as the recovery progresses in the EU. Significant fiscal consolidation and deleveraging needs nevertheless weigh on the growth perspectives.

In March 2014, the Commission concluded that Croatia was experiencing excessive macroeconomic imbalances. More specifically the risks stemming from high external liabilities, declining export performance, highly leveraged firms and fast increasing general government debt, all in a context of low growth and poor adjustment capacity, required specific monitoring and strong policy action. The identified imbalances strongly informed the country-specific recommendations issued to Croatia by the Council in June 2014. This Country Report assesses Croatia’s economy against the background of the Commission’s Annual Growth Survey which recommends three main pillars for the EU’s economic and social policy in 2015: investment, structural reforms, and fiscal responsibility. In line with the Investment Plan for Europe, it also explores ways to maximise the impact of public resources and unlock private investment. Finally, it assesses Croatia in light of the findings of the 2015 Alert Mechanism Report, in which the Commission found it useful to further examine the persistence of imbalances or their unwinding. The main findings of the In-Depth Review contained in this Country Report are:

· Subdued growth, delayed restructuring of firms and the dismal performance of employment are rooted in inefficiencies in the allocation of resources. Low employment is partly related to labour market institutions and policy settings. The unfavourable business environment is a major drag on the adjustment capacity of the economy.

· Weak external competiveness and the large negative international investment position threaten external sustainability. Croatia’s export of goods remains far below its potential. Cost and non-cost competiveness factors partly contribute to the weak export base. The large stock of liabilities fuels the outflow of investment income and is a source of vulnerability.

· Rising general government debt is a source of concern, which is aggravated by weaknesses in public sector governance. The prolonged recession coupled with significant assumption of liabilities of public enterprises have resulted in a sharp increase in public debt. The high and rising interest expenditure may signal the kicking-in of a snow-ball effect. Administrative fragmentation and weak public sector governance leads to low efficiency of spending and loose management of public finances.

· Household and corporate debt holds back consumption and investment. Both sectors are deleveraging at a moderate pace, but corporate debt remains highly concentrated in weakly profitable corporations and the relatively high rates of non-performing loans – especially in the corporate-sector need monitoring.

The Country Report also analyses other macroeconomic and structural issues:

· Current policies insufficiently address the needs of vulnerable workers and discourage participation of elderly workers.

· The healthcare system is a source of fiscal risks.

· Network industries are a bottleneck to the economy’s growth potential.

· Weaknesses in the education system together with scarce innovation capacity may undermine long-term productivity growth.

· Limited administrative capacity threatens the full absorption of EU funds.

There has been some progress in addressing the eight MIP relevant Country Specific Recommendations. The second phase of the labour market reform was fully implemented and the additional supervisory diagnostic exercises on banks have been satisfactorily completed, confirming the resilience of the Croatian banking sector. In the majority of areas covered by the recommendations some or limited progress was registered. Moreover, the MIP relevant country-specific recommendation to reduce access to early retirement has remained unaddressed.

The Country Report discusses the policy challenges stemming from the analysis of macro-economic imbalances:

· Administrative fragmentation and loose public finances management, including in the health sector, contribute to significant inefficiencies in the public sector. A complex functional distribution of governance structures, including a suboptimal articulation of the responsibilities of local tiers of government result in weak control of public finances, low efficiency of public spending and weak corruption prevention mechanisms.

· The rigid business environment is a bottleneck to growth. Strict regulation and high administrative and para-fiscal burdens drive up the cost of entrepreneurial activities. Weaknesses in the application of the regulatory impact assessment and legislative planning contribute to regulatory instability. Competition on the internal market is limited by the near monopoly regime in which some companies operate. The large share of public enterprises in the economy creates an uneven level playing field for private businesses. Inefficiencies in the justice system drive up the cost of litigation.

· Institutional and policy shortcomings affect the performance of the labour market. The severance payment regime hinders labour mobility and discourages the use of open-ended contracts. The multi-layered social benefits system and generous early retirement options create disincentives to work. The wage setting regime is not conducive to aligning wage dynamics to macroeconomic conditions.

· As regard corporate debt, the challenge is to ensure quick access to restructuring and to reconcile the protection of creditors and the efficiency of the deleveraging process, without undermining financial stability.

· The financial sector faces challenges from the degree of government intervention in the economy. Recent policies, including the freeze of the kuna/Swiss franc exchange rate for Swiss franc indexed loans, highlight the need for a more predicable legal system, a proportionate and equitable intervention of the state in the financial sector and the implementation of a permanent scheme for dealing with personal insolvency.

· Further investments in network infrastructure could enable Croatia to leverage its geo-strategic position.

· Mismatches between labour demand and supply hold back employment. Innovation capacity is negatively affected by a low level of private and public investment in R&D, but also by weaknesses in the governance of public research and in the design of support instruments.

· Inadequate administrative capacities hinder the full absorption of the EU funds. In particular the capacities of public administration are weak and the transparency and efficiency of public procurement at both central and local levels are low.

Several new Member States in central and eastern Europe (the EU-10) experienced a rapid building up of imbalances in the years that preceded the crisis ([1]). EU accession signalled prospects for faster income convergence and ushered in large-scale bank-intermediated foreign capital flows which fuelled domestic demand booms. Dynamic internal demand spilled over into imports and consequently widened current account deficits. Large increases in wages and prices eroded the cost competitiveness and compressed the tradable sector. The result was an excessive build-up of debt, mostly owed to foreigners, without a corresponding debt-servicing capacity, deterioration of competitiveness, and inadequate policy space.

Graph 1.1: Croatia: External and domestic demand, contribution to growth

Source: European Commission

The unwinding of macroeconomic imbalances was relatively swift, and most EU-10 Member States resumed growth in 2010. The external adjustment was facilitated by sudden capital outflows, sharp wage contraction, bold fiscal consolidation policies and in some cases currency depreciation. Relatively flexible labour markets allowed for wage adjustment and sector reallocations, and — following the great trade collapse of 2008 — exports accelerated swiftly again, countering the shrinking internal demand. Tightening credit conditions in the private sector forced a sharp adjustment in the indebtedness of non-financial corporations and households, while pressures to restore market confidence encouraged bolt fiscal consolidation measures. By 2010, however, internal demand had finished contracting, heralding the start of a new, more balanced, expansionary phase.

Despite not joining the EU until 2013, Croatia experienced similar adverse macroeconomic trends in the pre-crisis years. Strong capital inflows — partly channelled through Croatia’s largely foreign-owned banking sector — underpinned the robust growth up to the 2008 global financial crisis. Foreign direct investment (FDI), including cross-border intercompany lending from parent holdings, was also sizable. To a greater extent than peer economies in the region, the sizeable FDI inflows largely bypassed the tradable sector. The investment-led internal demand contributed to rapid import penetration. Though price and wages dynamics were contained in relative terms, subdued productivity dynamics resulted in increasing unit labour costs (ULC). In a context of a tightly managed euro exchange rate, cost competitiveness losses accumulated, and the already poor export performance deteriorated further. As a result, by 2008 Croatia registered an overall negative net international investment position (NIIP) of over 75% of GDP and a record current account deficit of 8.9% of GDP. At 110.8% and 36% of GDP respectively, corporate and household debt and general government debt were not particularly high when the crisis flared up, though gross external debt was already in excess of 100 % of GDP.

In contrast to its regional peers, six years after the bust of the financial bubble, Croatia is still mired in recession and struggling with the rebalancing of its economy. The prolonged recession has reduced real GDP by about 12.5%, while the unemployment rate has almost doubled from 8.9% in 2008 to 17.0% in 2014. Investment activity was hit first and hardest: from a peak of 28% of GDP in 2008, investments plummeted to 19 % in 2014, a real decline entailing a particularly steep drop in construction activity. However, the deterioration of the labour market and falling disposable income, combined with worsening consumer sentiment and tighter bank lending conditions rapidly affected household consumption which contracted over the same period by almost 13 percentage points (pps.). As a result of falling internal demand, imports contracted sharply, but since only limited investment had gone into productive domestic assets and economic transformation, exports failed to rebound. Loose fiscal policies partly cushioned the impact of the crisis but general government debt, spiralling from 36 % of GDP in 2008 to 81.4 % in 2014, rapidly emerged as a new concern. Leverage ratios in the private sector also continued to deteriorate, up to 2010. Growing public and private indebtedness resulted in a worsening of the NIIP and a further increase in gross external debt.

Graph 1.2: Real imports and real exports in Croatia and EU-10

Source: European Commission

The depth and duration of the crisis revealed structural weaknesses that had accumulated during the previous expansionary phase. Between 2002 and 2008, growth was mainly driven by labour input, while labour productivity growth was subdued in comparison with the catching-up EU-10 economies. Given the positive contribution of capital deepening, low productivity dynamics are entirely attributable to the weak growth of total factor productivity (TFP). Between 2002 and 2008, TFP growth averaged only 0.7% per year – as opposed to an average of 3.0% in EU-10. As in most Member States, the contribution of TFP turned negative with the crisis. Whereas five years after the crisis TFP growth recovered in EU-10, in the case of Croatia the average growth for 2008-2013 was still negative. Low productivity growth is typically associated with different dimensions of allocative inefficiency. The inefficient allocation of resources is also likely to have contributed to the build-up of macroeconomic imbalances and is slowing down the adjustment process.

In the absence of wide-ranging micro-structural reforms, the rebalancing of the economy is set to be slow and will continue to drag on economic growth. The economy is currently set to have further contracted by 0.5 in 2014 and is expected to stagnate at around 0.2% in 2015. In 2016, growth should be in firmer positive territory, but, at just 1%, it will still be relatively feeble. Also, these forecasts present risks to the downside as they do not factor in the fiscal consolidation measures needed to bring the spiralling public debt dynamic under control.

Graph 1.3: Registered employed population and unemployment rate

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics

The negative NIIP was only marginally affected by the turnaround in the current account and gross external debt remains a factor of vulnerability. Following a sharp import contraction, the current-account balance turned to a small surplus in 2012. On the back of recent improvement in export performance, the current-account balance surplus is set to reach a surplus of 0.9% of GDP in 2014. As a consequence, the negative NIIP broadly stabilised in Q3-2014 at an estimated ‑88.2% of GDP, considerably below the peak values registered at the beginning of 2011. The reduction was partly supported by positive valuation effects. With the kuna relatively stable against the euro, these effects probably reflect a deterioration of confidence in the Croatian economy and the good performance of most EU stock markets in the first half of 2014, but also the depreciation of the kuna against the dollar in the third quarter. The stabilisation of the NIIP is accompanied by a broad stabilisation of the net external debt, as the accumulation of reserves by the central bank offset the government’s increasing external indebtedness.

The fall in the employment rate might be close to bottoming out, but future employment growth is likely to be slowed down by the sluggish recovery. Labour force survey (LFS) data for Q3-2014 signalled an increase in the activity rate (67.6%) and employment rate (56.9%): both registered an increase with respect to the previous quarter (65.6% and 55.6% respectively) and the same quarter of previous year (64.7% and 53.7% respectively). Unemployment also decreased in the third quarter, reaching 15.8%, down from 16.7% in the previous quarter and 17% in the same quarter of the previous year. Administrative data likewise show a decrease in the unemployment. Despite an increase in the monthly unemployment rate from 18.7% to 19.2% in December 2014, the figure was well below the unemployment rate of 21% registered in the same month of the previous year. These figures are nevertheless likely to be affected by the shortening of the time window available for registering as unemployed. In contrast to the LFS figures, registered employment decreased mildly throughout 2014, which is probably more consistent with the contracting economy. Despite the contrasting indicators, it is likely that employment destruction is coming to an end and unemployment will see a moderate reduction in 2015 and 2016

Real wage adjustment is hindered by the subdued price dynamics. Nominal wages in 2014 have been more responsive to the deterioration of labour-market conditions and substantially stagnated in nominal terms. Between January and October 2014, the average monthly gross earnings per person in paid employment amounted to HRK 7 934 (approximately EUR 1 044), which represented a nominal increase of 0.1% and a real increase of 0.3% as compared with the same period in 2013. With a growth rate of 0.2% year-on-year, price dynamics continued to be extremely subdued in 2014 according to the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), whereas the national consumer price index (CPI) currently used by Croatian authorities is already in negative territory. HICP inflation is expected to be -0.3% in 2015 on the back of falling energy and commodity prices, whereas a slight up-take is expected with the gradual recovery of oil prices and with economic growth on firmer positive ground in 2016.

Graph 1.4: Wage and price growth

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics

While household debt broadly stabilised in the third quarter of 2014, deleveraging in non-financial corporations seems to have come to a halt. Total household debt broadly stabilised at around 40.4% of GDP. The total amount of outstanding loans to households further decreased in the second half of 2014, despite historically low interest rates, reflecting negative expectations on the labour market as well as tight credit conditions from the banks. The debt-to-GDP ratio (non-consolidated) of non-financial corporations, on the other hand, increased marginally from 88.2% at the end of 2013 to 89.2% at the end of the third quarter of 2014.

Public debt is set to continue on its steep upward trend. The general government deficit for 2014 should reach 5.0% of GDP in 2014 (compared with 5.2% of GDP in 2013). The slippage from the EDP target is attributable to lower revenue collection, partly explained by the weak tax-base dynamics, while expenditure appears to have evolved mostly in line with the authorities’ plans, notwithstanding some additional outlays from flood-related reconstruction costs that materialised in the second half of 2014. In the absence of further measures, the budget deficit is set to deteriorate to 5.5% of GDP in 2015 and remain around the same level in 2016, in spite of the moderate pick-up in growth. The debt profile was strongly affected by the inclusion (under the new accounting rules) of two major SOEs, which in the period 2008-2013 increased the debt-to-GDP ratio by an average 7.8 pps. The general government debt is expected to have increased from 75.7% of GDP in 2013 to 81.4% of GDP in 2014. In 2015 and 2016, the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to increase to 84.9% and 88.7% of GDP as a result of the underlying deficit trends.

Graph 1.5: Real estate price

Source: Croatian National Bank

The financial sector has withstood the recession, though the accumulation of impaired assets could constrain the provision of credit to the private sector in the future. By the end of September 2014, the non-performing loans (NPL) ratio reached 17%. For the corporate sector, which has been particularly affected by the crisis, the NPL ratio recently reached 30%, but NPL from the household sector have also started to increase. Although high capital levels and the recent review of the banking sector portfolio have provided reassurance concerning the stability of the financial sector, administrative measures governing the setting of interest rates and the freezing of the exchange rate of the kuna against the Swiss franc in loan contracts in response to the sudden appreciation of the franc may also impact the banks’ ability to lend to some categories of borrowers and reduce their profitability.

The correction in the housing market has been sharp, but recent indicators suggest that the real-estate prices are stabilising. The real-estate price index is now more or less back to the value at the end of 2004, thus fully offsetting the sharp increase registered before the crisis. Following a 0.6% increase in Q2-2014, the real estate price index grew further by 4.7% in the third quarter, on the back of a strong rebound of the real-estate prices along the Adriatic coast (12.9% quarter-on-quarter), whereas the Zagreb index showed a more moderate progression (1.1%). In year‑on‑year terms, the index registered its first increase since the offset of the crisis (2.5%).

Overall, recent outlook indicators present a mixed picture. The process of internal devaluation is bearing some fruits, specifically in terms of external rebalancing. The latter, however, relied more on a compression of imports than an expansion of exports. Moreover, strong headwinds stemming from the deleveraging needs in parts of the private sector and in the public sector (including publicly owned enterprises) and tight credit conditions still hamper the recovery of the internal demand. Subdued price dynamics hinder wage adjustment and increase the burden of real debt. More fundamentally, the Croatian economy does not seem to have engaged in the significant process of capital and labour reallocation required to unwind internal and external imbalances and return to growth.

Box 1.1: Economic surveillance process The Commission’s Annual Growth Survey, adopted in November 2014, started the 2015 European Semester, proposing that the EU pursue an integrated approach to economic policy built around three main pillars: boosting investment, accelerating structural reforms and pursuing responsible growth-friendly fiscal consolidation. The Annual Growth Survey also presented the process of streamlining the European Semester to increase the effectiveness of economic policy coordination at the EU level through greater accountability and by encouraging greater ownership by all actors. In line with streamlining efforts this Country Report includes an In-Depth Review — as per Article 5 of Regulation no. 1176/2011 — to determine whether macroeconomic imbalances still exist, as announced in the Commission’s Alert Mechanism Report published on November 2014. Based on the 2014 IDR for Croatia published in March 2014, the Commission concluded that Croatia was experiencing macroeconomic imbalances monitoring and policy action, in particular, developments in the areas of household debt, linked to the high levels of mortgage debt and structural characteristics of the housing market, as well as unfavourable developments in export market shares. This Country Report includes an assessment of progress towards the implementation of the 2014 Country-Specific Recommendations adopted by the Council in July 2014. The Country-Specific Recommendations for Croatia concerned public finances, retirement and disability, labour market and education, the tax and benefits system, business environment and public administration, state owned enterprises, corporate pre-bankruptcy procedures and financial sector stability.

Table 1.1: Key economic, financial and social indicators

(1) Domestic banking groups and stand-alone banks. (2) Domestic banking groups and stand-alone banks, foreign-controlled (EU and non-EU) subsidiaries and branches. (3) Real effective exchange rate (*) Indicates BPM5 and/or ESA95 Source: ECB and European Commission Source:

Table 1.2: MIP scoreboard

(1) Figures highlighted are those falling outside the threshold established in the European Commission's Alert Mechanism Report. For REER and ULC, the first threshold applies to euro area Member States. (2) Figures in italics are calculated according to the old standards (ESA95/BPM5). (3) Export market share data: total world exports are based on the fifth edition of the Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5). Source: European Commission

Croatia’s long-term output growth is relatively modest when compared with the growth rates of more successful transition economies. By 2013, Croatia had erased around a quarter of the GDP per capita gap to the weighted EU-15 average, broadly keeping pace for instance with the Czech Republic and Hungary. However, its convergence performance has been overshadowed by the more successful peer transition economies such as Slovakia, Poland and the Baltic States.

Graph 2.1.1: Growth accounting, 2002-2008 average (%)

Source: European Commission

Unlike most new Member States, Croatia’s GDP growth was driven essentially by employment growth, with limited productivity gains. Real GDP growth can be broken down into productivity growth and employment growth — the latter being the outcome of demographic dynamics and labour market performance. While a bigger employed population can sustain growth in the short-to-medium term, productivity is the only source of growth in the long run. Against this background, it is worrying to note that Croatia’s productivity growth had already been relatively weak before the crisis (see Figure 2.1.1). It indicates that the common factors that shaped economic transition in the new Member States have been put in Croatia to less productive use than in some other central and eastern European economies.

The weak growth fundamentals surfaced fully during the protracted recession. While the low productivity growth was masked and partly offset inter alia by sizeable capital inflows and a buoyant external environment in the pre-crisis period, the weak foundations of growth manifested themselves fully once these positive demand factors receded. In view of the persistently weak productivity growth, the exceptionally long recession ([2]) is re-interpreted as the product of deep-rooted inefficiencies that depress potential growth and delay recovery in demand, rather than being an exclusively demand-driven phenomenon. The goal of this section is to understand the nature of these inefficiencies, with a particular emphasis on those created by the labour market institutions and the business environment.

Graph 2.1.2: Growth accounting, 2008-2013 average (%)

Source: European Commission

Adjustment dynamics

The long recession has not delivered the requisite restructuring of the economy. Graph 2.1.3 tracks developments in labour productivity and employment in the post-crisis period in selected EU-10 countries. It shows that most have registered an increase in labour productivity along with a decrease in employment. This appears not to be the case for Croatia. Despite the depth of the recession and a loss of more than 200 000 jobs (13 % of overall employment), Croatia has not yet profited from the opportunity to restructure for higher productivity. Sluggish productivity growth is evident also in firm-level data which, moreover, confirm that most economically significant activities, including manufacturing, trade and construction, posted low total factor productivity (TFP) growth already in pre-crisis years.

Graph 2.1.3: Productivity and employment dynamics (2008-14)

Source: European Commission

The poor adjustment dynamics are a result of economy-wide weaknesses rather than sector-specific shocks. Despite the massive layoffs, restructuring has yet to result in value-added and productivity gains in most sectors. The only sectors where value added in 2013 exceeded the 2008 level were public administration (by 3.5 %), real-estate activities (by 2.3 %) and financial services (by 1.5 %). In other sectors, aggregate value-added growth was persistently negative or too weak to reach the 2008 level. A breakdown of value-added growth into labour productivity growth and employment growth reveals that, of the market-oriented sectors, only the ICT sector achieved a higher level of productivity than in 2008, while others were still at (manufacturing, agriculture) or far below (construction, business services) the pre-crisis level.

Graph 2.1.4: Distribution of firms according to productivity and employment dynamics

Source: European Commission, ORBIS

At micro-level, the low dynamics in firms can be traced back to delayed restructuring. An analysis based on the ORBIS database of firm-level data shows that in 2007, the year before the onset of the crisis, over half (54 %) of all companies were in ‘productivity enhancing’ mode, expanding productivity and employment. Around 20 % were ‘successfully restructuring’, i.e. cutting jobs with a positive impact on productivity, while only 8 % were ‘restructuring’, i.e. cutting jobs without succeeding in increasing productivity. Finally, around 18 % of firms were undermining productivity, i.e. expanding employment despite decreasing productivity. In 2009, the proportion of ‘productivity enhancing’ companies collapsed and it has continued to fall since, which illustrates the depth of the recession. The majority of companies turned to down-sizing, yet it is apparent that most of them took a wait-and-see approach rather than starting to reshape themselves for higher productivity. The proportion of ‘successfully restructuring’ businesses started to consolidate only in 2013. Sustaining this trend is a necessary precondition for erasing the accumulated efficiency losses and achieving higher aggregate growth and convergence going forward.

At the extensive margin, the contribution to growth from the company entries and exits is surprisingly negative. A study on the relationship between firm dynamism (net entry) and productivity in Croatia finds that business churn was relatively low in Croatia in the 2008-12 as compared with its regional peers. In particular, on average only 5.5 % of companies were new to the market every year, against 9-18 % newcomers in the EU-10 ([3]). Also, the exit dynamics were found to be muted (6.5 % of firms exited every year, as compared with 7-26 % in the EU-10). While typically the entry of new firms and the exit of old ones enhances productivity, the market selection process in Croatia appears inefficient, as the net productivity dynamics contribution of net entry was found to be negative. While, as expected, new entrants helped to enhance productivity, firm exits actually had the opposite effect. This is a sign of inefficiency in the market selection process, which is in line with the evidence of inefficient pre-insolvency and insolvency frameworks presented in section 2.4.

The adjustment was particularly slow in small- and medium-sized companies. Only limited evidence can be gathered as regards the performance of companies of different sizes over time. Yet, data for the manufacturing and transport sectors show that in 2008-11 the productivity growth of the smallest companies took the longest-lasting hit, while larger companies found it easier to initiate the necessary restructuring. Access to credit is likely to be a factor in productivity patterns differing over time. However, on the policy front, this evidence also underlies the importance of facilitating the doing of business across the board so that small and medium-sized companies can benefit, as opposed to taking selective measures targeting large-scale companies and projects.

All in all, low productivity growth appears to be a structural feature of the Croatian economy. The reallocation of resources towards their most productive use seems to be hampered both within firms (as evidenced by delays in restructuring), and between viable and unviable companies as suggested by the apparent inefficiencies in the market selection process.

Labour market

Labour force in Croatia is negatively affected by the rapidly ageing population coupled with low activity rates of older persons. The natural population change was negative between 2000 and 2013, with an average decline of 10 000 citizens a year. According to the European Commission 2015 Ageing Report, demographic projections involve a further drop of almost 7 % of the Croatian population by 2045 (from 4.2 million in 2014 to 4.0 million) and almost 14 % by 2060 (down to 3.7 million). The negative effects of demographic changes on the labour force are likely to emerge already in the medium term – with a decrease of 50 000 by 2020. At present, activity rates are particularly low for workers above 50 (52 % in Croatia, 64 % in the EU-28 in 2013), which is partly a result of the presence of numerous early retirement options. While disability and special pension schemes (mainly for war veterans) were used as the main avenue to early retirement in the previous decade, the generous standard early retirement scheme has been undermining labour supply in recent years. Current projections incorporating inter alia changes in the pension system forecast an increase in the participation rate of older workers from currently 43.2 % to 44.5 % in 2020, progressively reaching 50.9 % by 2060. See section 3.1 for a detailed analysis of the pension system.

Substantial migration flows in the pre-crisis years broadly offset the decline in the overall population. In the first decade of the 2000s sustained growth in low-skilled labour-intensive sectors ushered in sizeable immigration flows, mainly from Bosnia-Herzegovina and other countries in the region, which broadly compensated for the shrinkage in the natural population.

Graph 2.1.5: Migration flows and total population

Source: European Commission

Worsening labour market conditions after 2008 triggered a reversal of migration flows and resulted in a substantial decline in labour market participation, particularly by young people, women, the long-term unemployed and older workers. In 2009, net migration flows turned negative, contributing to an acceleration of the demographic trend. Also, the low labour market participation of young people contributed strongly to the decline in activity rates. Low labour demand combined with a discouragement effect influenced young workers either to withdraw or not to enter the labour market. Some prolonged their stay in the education system, whereas others contributed to the growing number of not in education, employment or training (NEET rate) (up to 22.3 % in 2013, EU average 15.9 %). Similarly, the inability to find employment led older workers either to become inactive or to take early retirement. Deterioration of the overall labour market situation, accentuated the employment gender gap and long-term unemployment, particularly for the most vulnerable groups on the labour market.

An inefficiently targeted and multi-layered social benefits system creates disincentives to work and contributes to the high inactivity rate. There are currently over 80 different social benefits and programmes in Croatia, partly administered by eight ministries and partly by county and municipal authorities and provided through a complex network of more than 500 offices operating under different jurisdictions. The lack of a clear overview and adequate targeting of social protection benefits, coupled with their ineffective and untransparent allocation, often results in inactivity traps. These stem from discrepancies in the provision of benefits at the local level with those at the central level. The poor design of the existing benefit scheme also results in inadequate income support. This is reflected in the comparably high proportion (37 %) of the unemployed and poor not covered by social safety nets. A more detailed discussion of social policy follows in section 3.1.

Consolidation of social benefits is progressing, aiming at better targeting, rationalisation and effectiveness. The process is taking place at two levels: consolidation of the guaranteed minimum benefit (GMB) into a guaranteed minimum standard (GMS) and the establishing of a ‘one‑stop shop’ (OSS) — a single payment centre using single national database systems. The GMB was introduced in 2013, and merged four existing benefits with stricter means-testing, introduced mandatory activation measures offering incentives to work, and a social benefits ceiling based on minimum gross salary per household. The impact of the introduction of the GMB on activity rates is as yet unclear, but it could be a positive step towards reducing inactivity traps and intensifying work incentives, while achieving greater efficiency in social spending.

Further efforts to reform the benefit system and reduce inactivity traps are expected in 2015. The mapping of social protection benefits to identify which could be merged under the GMS was completed by the end of 2014, while work on the ‘categorisation’ of benefits should be completed by spring 2015. A consolidation action plan for the overhaul of the benefits system, due for adoption by early summer 2015, will include proposed alternative models, information about political governance, and a legislative framework up to 2020, including plans for decentralisation. The planned consolidation of social protection benefits is ambitious and goes in the right direction. Once the OSS and its detailed tracking and monitoring system are in place, this should limit the accumulation of benefits and ensure that they are better targeted. Following the compilation of the review and assessment of reform options it is paramount that authorities move to the implementation phase.

The situation on the labour market remains challenging on the back of the enduring recession and the limited adjustment capacity of the economy. The sharp fall in internal and external demand goes a long way to explaining the significant surge in unemployment. Fiscal consolidation needs in the general government sector – which includes several public companies – also play a significant role, given the high proportion of workers employed by the broad public sector. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate had also been consistently high in the pre-crisis period, signalling structural weaknesses in the functioning of the labour market. Despite recent timid signs of improvement, these are set to weigh on future employment growth.

In recent years, wages have seen only moderate growth in Croatia, but, gross earnings remain relatively high, considering productivity. Gross real wages (deflated by GDP deflator) increased by less than 8 % between 2002 and 2014, as compared with almost 30 % in the EU-10. Despite slow productivity growth, this resulted in a moderate decrease of 5 % in real unit labour costs (ULCs). The adjustment in real ULCs was sharper in the EU-10, however, where it averaged 10 % over the same period. Considering current productivity levels, gross earnings in Croatia are still relatively high (especially since aggregate productivity is likely to be overestimated given the public sector’s higher wages and large share in the economy).

The public sector and public enterprises pay higher wages than the private sector and offer a range of benefits that distort the reservation wage and encourage early exits from the labour force. Analysis based on Labour Force Survey data shows that the average net hourly wage in 2012 was 25 % and 18 % higher in the public sector and in public enterprises, respectively, than in the private sector. Controlling for characteristics of employees and jobs, the wage premium was about 5 % in the public sector and 7 % in publicly owned enterprises ([4]). In addition, according to information provided by the authorities, some SOEs offer excessively generous retirement bonuses (the equivalent of a year’s salary) and other bonuses. Such bonuses, if not well designed, may not only negatively affect retirement decisions but also drive up the reservation wage in the entire economy.

Limited wage adjustment in the post-crisis period exacerbated the negative impacts on employment. Real wages adjusted only slowly to the changing macroeconomic conditions. As unemployment started to increase in 2009, real wages were still rising and (albeit moderately) the trend has continued since. The relatively high degree of unionisation in the labour force, combined with an uncoordinated and decentralised wage bargaining system, contributes to the limited responsiveness of wages to changes in the macroeconomic environment. An analysis of wage dynamics in Croatia in the period 2000-13 concludes that wage setting institutions are prone to generate spillover effects from the tradable to the non-tradable sector. In particular, weak competition in the internal market generates wage pressures which spill over to companies subject to competition from foreign firms, thus eroding their cost competitiveness. The authors suggest that authorities could consider further decentralisation of wage bargaining accompanied by stronger enforcement mechanisms, or a step towards a more centralised system characterised by enhanced coordination ([5]). A third possibility – among the available models used in European Member States – would be to combine those two alternatives so as to provide for enhanced coordination with enough room for actual decentralisation: the former to deal better with economy-wide shocks, the latter to allow room for adjustment to more local or firm-specific shocks. Either model, if successfully implemented, could allow achieving a better alignment of wages and productivity developments in all the sectors of the economy.

Graph 2.1.6: Productivity vis-à-vis EU-28 and average earnings in Croatia, EU and other OECD countries (2014)

Source: European Commission, based on 2015 winter forecast

The review of the wage-setting system resulted from the need to align wage dynamics with productivity developments and macroeconomic conditions. In cooperation with external experts, the authorities have completed a comprehensive analysis of wage determination and wage-setting practices in both the private and the public sectors and in SOEs, with the intention to inform a tripartite discussion with social partners. The review suggests that there is scope to foster wage dynamics better aligned with productivity developments and more attuned to macroeconomic and social conditions, including the way wage-setting dampens or cushion changes in economic activity. In this context, the authors of the review call for more coordination in the wage-bargaining system. In early 2015 the authorities have initiated a debate on possible measures of either legislative or administrative nature. An inter-ministerial consultation on establishing centralised coordination of collective bargaining in the public sector and SOEs is under way. The reform of the current institutional setup – especially with regards to the existing collective agreements within SOEs – may prove challenging. Nevertheless policy action is warranted, following the wage review.

To address institutional deficiencies of the labour market, Croatia implemented two labour market reforms in 2013 and 2014. Before these reforms, the Croatian labour market was characterised by relatively strict employment protection legislation. While it is still too early to assess the impact of the legislative changes, initial signs indicate that they go in the right direction. The labour law reform also resulted in Croatia’s employment protection legislation (EPL) index (as per the OECD methodology) falling from 2.6 to 2.3 after the first phase and to 2.2 after the second, which compares well with the situation in most other OECD countries.

The 2013 reform tackled the issue of flexibility in the use of temporary contracts. The 2013 amendments to the Labour Act allowed for the use of fixed-term contracts concluded for the first time for a period of over three years. This resulted in increased flexibility as compared with the previous regulation. In order to protect workers’ rights, however, the amendments limit the duration of any successive fixed-term contract to three years. Furthermore, the new legislation lifts restrictions on reasons for concluding the first fixed-term contract, and restrictions now apply only for the termination of successive fixed-term contracts.

The second phase of the labour law reform addressed low contractual flexibility and rigid employment protection legislation. The new Labour Act, adopted in August 2014, increases flexibility in the organisation of working time, facilitates the use of flexible types of work (distance work, part-time work, seasonal work and agency work), and simplifies in various ways the procedures for terminating employment contracts. The reform also took a first step in pointing to the need to facilitate the renegotiation of outdated collective agreements. A thorough re-examination of the rules on re-negotiation, administrative extensions of sectoral agreements to non-signatory parties, enforcement-related issues (especially in the private sector) and overlapping agreements are all areas in which there is scope for further policy action. A working group for monitoring the implementation and impacts of the labour market reform has been established with the social partners, with the first regular report envisaged for January 2015.

Graph 2.1.7: Share of temporary and recently employed (less than three months) workers

Source: European Commission

Increases in temporary employment signal enhanced flexibility on the labour market but could bear a risk of growing segmentation. Croatia had been performing close to the EU average in temporary employment (14.5 % of total employment in 2013), but recent trends show rapid increases in the use of temporary contracts (in 2013 and 2014, 93 % of all newly employed persons were employed on a temporary basis). Temporary employment is highest for young people and has been steadily increasing to 45.1 % in Q3-2014. According to a survey of employers, 85.1 % of all new employment in 2014 was planned to be temporary, half of it (49.9 %) seasonal. In this context, the sensible increase in mobility registered following the reform (measured as the share of employees having started a job in the last three months) is most likely reflecting a higher turnover of temporary workers. One of the challenges ahead is to maintain relatively high levels of labour mobility while preventing labour market segmentation, which is detrimental to productivity growth.

Despite the recent reforms, current labour market regulations still place a number of barriers to hiring and job-to-job mobility. The labour market is still characterised by hiring constraints, including a temporary ban on hiring for firms that have recently dismissed workers. This protection measure could constitute a bottleneck to labour mobility, considering the on-going pressures for economic restructuring (see previous section). Also, the severance payment arrangements, characterised by non-portable entitlements, have been criticised for hindering labour mobility. Various reform proposals have recently been submitted to the government, including a switch towards the ʻAustrian model’ ([6]). Lastly, the current level of minimum wage might create barriers to employment of low skilled and younger workers. In 2014, the minimum wage – set by the government at HRK 3 017.61 – is estimated to have attained 38 % of average wage, and a further increase to HRK 3 029.55 was implemented by decree on 1 January 2015. ([7]) It should be noted that in PPS terms the Croatian minimum wage is higher than in the EU-10, with the exception of Poland and Slovenia. Moreover, based on the 2010 Structure of Earnings Survey, at 9.2 % Croatia is one of the countries with the highest share of employees earning less than 105 percent of the monthly minimum wage. A different modulation of the minimum wage for vulnerable categories of workers and the removal of nominal rigidities in its adjustment could reconcile the needs of workers protection with enhanced opportunities for all workers and more flexibility in wage dynamics.

Graph 2.1.8: Average monthly earnings by educational attainment (2010)

Source: European Commission, Structure of earnings survey, 2010

Relatively high returns to education are coupled with high unemployment rate of the tertiary educated. Gross wage premia associated with tertiary education are especially high, with the employees in question earning on average 50 % more than workers with secondary education.([8]) The weak absorption capacity of the domestic production system is witnessed by the relatively high unemployment rate among graduates of tertiary education. Issues related to the quality and relevance of education and training are addressed in section 3.4.

Graph 2.1.9: Unemployment rate by education level (2013)

Source: European Commission

The size of the informal economy remains a persisting challenge in Croatia and results in a high incidence of undeclared work and ʻenvelope wages’. Steps have been taken to combat undeclared work in Croatia. In January 2014, the single tax, surtax and contributions form (JOPPD) was introduced, which incorporates all data on income from employment, income tax, surtax and contributions for compulsory insurance, data on other income (contracts, royalties, income in kind) and corresponding taxes and contributions, as well as income from property rights, capital or insurance. In the framework of labour law reform, it is now possible to work part-time with a second employer alongside a full-time job and employees must now be registered before they start work. In August 2014, a ʻcommission to combat undeclared work’ was established as an expert advisory body in charge of assessing measures taken in the previous two years to combat undeclared work, evaluating their implementation, monitoring future measures and (if necessary) proposing amendments to existing measures. In September 2014, the commission issued a consolidated report on measures taken to combat undeclared work, which provides an overview of action taken by the relevant bodies. An analysis of the underlying causes of undeclared work was completed by the end of 2014. It covered all measures that have been implemented and identified where there is room for improvement.

Labour market institutions have been broadly reformed over the past two years, but challenges remain. The two phases of labour-market reform aimed at increasing labour market flexibility and as soon as positive growth returns, visible improvements in the performance of the labour market should materialise. Nevertheless, the impact of the recent changes are yet to work through. Moreover, remaining shortcomings continue to slow down employment creation, prevent labour mobility, fuel labour market segmentation and enable for wage dynamics which are responding insufficiently to existing macroeconomic and social conditions.

The business environment

Croatia’s business environment suffers from major institutional shortcomings. The seriousness of the challenges investors and entrepreneurs are facing is borne out by a number of international reviews. The World Bank’s 2015 Doing Business report ranks Croatia 65th out of 189 countries globally and 27th in the EU-28. Compared with 2014, Croatia improved its global ranking by two places but its position in the EU-28 context stayed the same. The 2014-15 Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum ranks Croatia 87th as regards institutional quality overall and 141st (out of 144) in terms of the burden of government regulation. The value of the institutional quality index remained unchanged as compared with the 2013-14 report but the rank improved by six places. Croatia is the worst performing EU Member State in the OECD product market regulation Index, which is largely due to a high degree of public ownership and government involvement in network sectors and in general business operations.

A number of specific issues give rise to this assessment, including: regulatory instability and a lack of strong ex ante legislative assessment; high compliance costs, discriminatory practices and rigid regulation in services; high administrative burdens; the plethora of parafiscal charges, low transparency and predictability in the working of administrative bodies (in particular at local level) and unevenly developed electronic communication channels; and long judicial proceedings. These issues are discussed below in detail. Related issues pertaining to the functioning of public administration, effectiveness of public spending, corruption and the governance of public enterprises are discussed in section 2.3. The functioning of the pre-insolvency and insolvency frameworks (relevant for the resolution of the debt overhang) is analysed in section 2.4.

Weaknesses in legislative planning and in the application of impact assessments weigh on the quality of new regulations. Half of the laws adopted in 2014 were not anticipated in the legislative plan. The extensive unplanned legislative activity squeezes the scope for ex ante regulatory impact assessment (RIA), with negative impact on the quality of the assessment. Earmarking of acts for RIA appears to reflect their socio-economic significance. In practice, however, the RIA is frequently circumvented by resorting to fast‑track legislative procedure, under which it is not mandatory. RIA was actually carried on only nine out of 45 legislative acts earmarked for it in 2014. Moreover, when used, RIA appears to be rather perfunctory due to weak quality control, inadequate capacities and a lack of high-level commitment to impact assessment. Inadequate assessment of legislative acts weighs on the quality of new regulations and leads to frequent amendments to address unintended (but predictable) consequences of adopted legislation. Regulatory instability, in turn, complicates business decisions, in particular for SMEs and young companies, which lack the resources to deal with it. The authorities are planning to introduce the ‘two out, one in’ check for new regulations but no specific measures are planned to improve the quality of impact assessment overall.

Box 2.1.1: Doing business in Croatia The table below presents the development over time of the most relevant indicators covered by the World Bank’s Doing Business Report. Apart from reporting on the individual numerical scores (see the report for interpretation of the values), it shows Croatia’s ranking vis-à-vis the other Member States. Dark red indicates under-performance, yellow average and green better-than-average performance. The 2015 Doing Business Report substantially altered the assessment of Croatia following revision of data and refinement of some of the underlying indicators. The series was updated retrospectively. In the revised assessment, Croatia’s 2014 rank is 67th, as opposed to 89th originally. Two most important changes concerned: (a) protecting minority investors: the 2014 ranking improved from 156th to 62nd as a result of the indicator being extended to include factors favourable to Croatia (the role of shareholders in corporate decision–making, safeguards against undue board control, and corporate transparency); (b) resolving insolvency: the 2014 ranking improved from 98th to 56th, again due to a number of new sub-indicators such as the involvement of creditors in reorganisation proceedings and the protection for dissenting creditors. Even with the improvement on the basis of the revised data, Croatia’s rank in terms of ‘ease of doing business’ is still the second lowest in the EU-28 (after Malta).

Sector-specific regulations pose excessive burdens on entrepreneurs in services. For instance, laws applicable to specific services require prior authorisation from a competent authority in Croatia, including entry in a register or registration with a professional body or association. Some laws, for instance in the tourism sector and construction sectors, also set rules for minimum number of employees or impose specific legal form requirements (this applies particularly to educational institutions and legal professions). Moreover, regulated professions such as the legal profession, accounting, architecture and engineering are strictly regulated by the legislator and by professional bodies. Both quantitative and qualitative restrictions on the number of entrants into the profession (e.g. educational requirements, quotas) apply. Conduct regulations further determine tariffs and the organisational structure of businesses providing professional services, while restricting advertising and cooperation between professionals. The OECD’s product market regulation index for professional services ranks Croatia relatively unfavourably as regards entry restrictions in all regulated professions it covers and among the three worst Member States in terms of conduct restrictions in all professions but accounting services.

Another problem is that discriminatory practices against foreigners limit competition on the domestic market. Practices that have been reported include additional taxes on non-residents or a direct requirement of residence in Croatia in order to benefit from specific services, e.g. in the maritime field.

The ability of the Competition Authority to foster more intense competition in the Croatian business environment is hampered by a shortage of staff and other resources. The Authority is small compared with its counterparts in other Member States of similar size, as is its budget (approximately EUR 1.7 million in 2015 for a staff of 47, of which 31 work in the Competition Division). These factors significantly restrict its capacity for more comprehensive enforcement and thus the effectiveness of competition policy.

Administrative burdens on companies are substantial. According to preliminary values of the OECD’s 2013 product market review indicators, Croatia imposes the highest start-up administrative costs on corporations as well as on limited liability companies. However, companies with no more than three members can be established through a streamlined procedure as a ‘simple limited liability’ company. The World Bank’s 2015 Doing Business report notes that while the one-stop-shop ‘HITRO’ allows for company incorporation, it is not as common as registration through a notary (which takes at least 10-15 days), who inter alia certifies the non-existence of debt claims. The ‘silence is consent’ rule applies only to some licences required to open up a business and the issuance/acceptance of relevant notifications and licenses is not performed via a common access point. In addition to the start-up costs, the Doing Business report highlights severe bottlenecks in trading across borders (despite an electronic customs system) and securing construction permits (see box 2.1.1). Other pockets of heavy administrative burden complicate the process of registering property changes (length of procedure) and enforcing contracts (procedural complexity).

The authorities have embarked on a process of auditing administrative burdens with a view to alleviating them. In November 2014, the government decided to pilot measurement of administrative burdens using the standard cost model. The project concerns administrative requirements under the Trade Act and the Mediation in Immovable Property Transactions Act. It is carried out by the Agency for Investment and Competitiveness, which reports to the Ministry of Economy, in close co-operation with experts from the Netherlands. The pilot phase is expected to be completed by the end of February 2015, following which an action plan for the simplification of administrative burdens will be presented for the areas in question.

Progress on removing or decreasing parafiscal charges is considerably slower than expected. At the beginning of 2014, the register of parafiscal charges contained 244 items, generating revenue of HRK 6.4 billion (1.9 % of GDP). The 2014 Implementation Plan signalled the removal or reduction of 58 charges in 2014, with an expected decrease in revenues by 0.16 % of GDP. However, this happened in only 15 cases, decreasing the parafiscal burden by 0.03 % of GDP. In total, 63 levies were written off the registry as it turned out that they were not ‘parafiscal’ but other payments, such as concession fees, and additional 12 minor levies were added to the register. The fact that the authorities lack a solid overview of charges imposed on businesses undermines the legitimacy of the payments and makes it difficult to assess the ambition of the authorities’ efforts. Big fluctuations in the registry of charges are due to the fact that the coordinating entity (the Ministry of Finance) checks the classification only after a payment is entered into the registry. It is important to note that the removal of charges is not centrally coordinated, which means that there is insufficient guarantee that the charges being removed are those that are most problematic for businesses.

The burden parafiscal charges impose on businesses is not only financial. Administering frequent, although relatively small, payments to numerous entities creates an additional administrative burden for businesses. The authorities plan to reduce the administrative burden associated with paying the charges by reducing the number of individual payments, but they have yet to present a specific plan. Joint accounts shared by several institutions are being used for some sectoral charges. In general, though, the fragmented organisation of collection, verification of compliance and enforcement by the recipients (public administration, SOEs and agencies) take up significant resources in return for limited revenue.

The public administration in Croatia is more costly than that in many EU Member States, but does not perform well in terms of effectiveness. Despite a public wage bill close to 12 % of GDP, the EU Public Administration Scoreboard (Member States’ Competitiveness Report) shows that Croatia scores low on the EU Public Administration Scoreboard (part of the Member States’ Competitiveness Report) particularly on the indicators of effective implementation ([9]), cost and time to export, and irregular payments and bribes. Inconsistencies in the decision‑making of regional and local units across the territory, and the lack of a clear timeframe for issuing binding opinions in tax issues are a source of concern for businesses ([10]). High turnover rates, limited training opportunities, the lack of transparency in staff recruitment and the absence of evidence-based approaches to reform, remain weak points in the public administration. Proposed amendments to the Public Servants Act (from mid‑2014) were aimed at simplifying recruitment and dismissal procedures, and redefining decision‑making in the civil service with a view to improving efficiency. However, in the light of observations from a number of institutions in public consultation, the legislative procedure has been put on hold and a new proposal is under preparation.

Modern communication channels with the public administration are unevenly developed. To tackle the very low online interaction between the public administration and citizens (ranked 25th in the EU-28), the e-citizens web portal was launched in June 2014. The system comprises a central state web portal, a personalised electronic mailbox and a national identification and authentication system. The portal is developed and expanded on an ongoing basis, with the introduction of 12 more services by the end of 2014 and further upgrades planned for 2015. The Ministry of Interior will be coming on board, so the e‑citizens portal will be used to issue a wider range of e‑certificates and for paying of administrative charges. As regards businesses, limited online services, in particular for users from other Member States, are provided by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the ‘one‑stop shop’ HITRO and the Financial Agency (FINA). These services are administered by different institutions, which creates challenges both for the authorities (ensuring compatibility) and for users (having to familiarise themselves with different digital interfaces). The authorities plan to develop a new platform, www.poduzetnik.hr, which would integrate all existing services. In the area of physical planning, an advanced information system (ISPU) is in place. This includes a new e‑construction permit application, which allows permits to be issued within 30 days.

Improving the efficiency and quality of the justice system remains a challenge, despite some positive developments. In 2014, the disposition time (a calculated measure of the length of trials) remained comparatively long at first instance both in litigious civil and commercial cases (378 days) and in administrative cases (427 days). At first‑instance civil and commercial courts in litigious cases, the situation has improved slightly as compared with 2013 in terms of both backlog (a reduction by 6 %) and disposition time. These improvements can, however, be partly attributed to a big drop in the number of incoming cases (by 11 %) rather than a higher number of resolved cases. At first‑instance administrative courts, backlog increased by 17 %, despite more cases being resolved. At the High Commercial Court, the situation worsened seriously both in terms of backlog (an increase by 16 %) and disposition time, which reached 1 243 days in 2014, up from 1 142 days in the previous year. A significant drop in new cases (by 30 %) at the High Administrative Court partly helped maintain a positive trend, with disposition time falling markedly from 224 days in 2013 to 68 in 2014. In enforcement cases, disposition time increased slightly.

Implementing the reform of the judicial map could improve the quality and efficiency of specific courts. The reform, affecting municipal, misdemeanour and county courts was adopted in October 2014 and is expected to be implemented from April 2015. Primarily, it aims to increase specialisation and balance out the uneven workload of judges by merging courts. The reform involves a change in the allocation of cases before second‑instance civil courts: cases on appeal will be allocated to all second‑instance courts, with some courts specialising in particular types of case. At first‑instance administrative courts, where lack of staff remains an issue, there are plans to provide judges from other areas with incentives to become administrative judges. At first‑ and second‑instance commercial courts, there is a lack of streamlined business processes (including case management) in the handling of urgent and complex cases, and this has a negative effect on the length of trials. Evaluating the effects of past reforms, particularly the amendments to the Civil Procedure Act, is important in order to correctly identify challenges in the civil justice system.

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods are underused. According to the 2014 ‘Flash Eurobarometer’ survey on consumer attitudes towards cross-border trade and consumer protection, Croatia had the fifth lowest percentage of consumers in the EU who found it easy to resolve disputes with businesses through courts and out-of-court bodies. Efforts have been made to promote ADR methods, but their impact is difficult to predict.

Courts are implementing information and communication technology (ICT). In 2014, the upgraded ‘ICMS’ system was introduced in all first‑instance courts except administrative courts, which use a separate system, and the High Commercial Court and Supreme Court, which are due to be included in 2015. However, the use of ICT systems in communication between courts and parties is underdeveloped, as claims and undisputed debt recovery can still not be processed electronically.

Overall, the business environment stands out as a major reason for the low adjustment capacity of the Croatian economy and a bottleneck for investment and growth going forward. Specific issues contributing to the high cost of doing business include strict regulation in the product and service markets, and high administrative, regulatory and parafiscal burdens. Regulatory instability is aggravated by weaknesses in regulatory impact assessment and legislative planning. Long judicial proceedings erode the efficiency of the legal framework. Despite several concrete measures, only limited progress has been made on improving the quality of the business environment overall.

The competitiveness losses accumulated in the years before the global financial crisis resulted in the build-up of large external imbalances. In the pre-crisis expansionary cycle, the Croatian economy benefited from large-scale partly bank-intermediated foreign capital inflows, though the latter were essentially directed towards the non-tradable sectors, fuelling an unsustainably high level of internal demand. Expectations of rapid income convergence led to increases in wages and prices, which eroded Croatia’s tradable sector and its competitive position. The dynamics leading to the build-up of external imbalances and their ongoing unwinding can be analysed by focussing on real transactions (trade and transfers) or looking at the financing side. In the following sections, the former approach is followed and the determinants of the trade balance and the other balances that produce the net lending position are discussed. Specifically, the analysis will cover the performance of exports of goods and services. The following subsection analyses the drivers of the high import dependence. Finally the analysis turns to the balance of primary and secondary incomes and capital transactions, and vulnerabilities stemming from the high NIIP and external debt.

Graph 2.2.1: Net lending position – transaction side

* 2014 is an estimate based on quarterly data. Source: European Commission

Exports of goods

The weak performance of goods exports is a long-lasting weakness of the Croatian economy. After a short-lived expansionary phase at the beginning of the last decade, export market shares started contracting from 2004 and losses have intensified since 2008. The contraction in exports in recent years was to some extent a consequence of sector-specific shocks (mainly the restructuring of the important ship-building sector) and temporary trade flow diversions linked to giving up preferential CEFTA trade agreements on accession to the EU (preferences were restored the following year through association agreements). The acceleration of exports in 2014 and expected positive development in 2015 and 2016 signal that Croatia may start to benefit from accession to the EU market. Yet Croatia’s export base is small. Export of goods corresponds to just 21.6% of GDP, as opposed to more than 50% in the export-oriented economies of the EU-10, but also well below the EU (above 30%). Several factors contribute to the low share of exports, including the relatively high wages, substantial non-price competiveness weaknesses and rigid business environment. The above factors – together with delayed EU accession – have held back FDI in the tradable sector (especially in capital intensive sectors) while terms of trade are penalised by currency inflows from the tourism and remittances.

Graph 2.2.2: Net lending position - financing side

* 2014 is an estimate based on quarterly data. Source: European Commission

Several indicators suggest that Croatia suffered from an erosion of competitiveness in the years before the crisis. Standard ex ante competitiveness indicators, such as the real effective exchange rate (REER) highlight an erosion of competitiveness until 2009, irrespective of the deflator used. From 2010, however, cost competitiveness vis-à-vis trading partners improved visibly, though export price-deflated REER stagnated, suggesting a difficulty in transposing lower unit labour costs (ULCs) into lower export prices and/or higher volumes. Export market shares shrank significantly over the whole period.

Graph 2.2.3: Real Effective Exchange Rates, ULC- and export prices-deflated

Source: European Commission

Weak export-market performance cannot be unequivocally traced back to worsening competitiveness indicators. This was probably due to the progressive improvement in the quality of products. Croatia was also able to increase its export market shares – though to a much more limited extent. The weaker performance is likely to be related not as much to the dynamics over the period, but rather by the relatively high starting level of wages. Conversely, the post-2008 reduction in REERs in Croatia was associated with a strong deterioration in market shares, whereas developments in regional peer economies were in line with standard theory. This is slightly puzzling, as it suggests that the gradual erosion of competitiveness and its subsequent recovery have limited implications for the dynamics of export‑market shares. In its 2012 country report, the IMF analyses ULCs and export performance at disaggregated level and highlights how (unlike that of its peer economies) Croatia’s export performance was disappointing despite relatively subdued ULC increases — particularly in exporting industries ([11]). In the light of the above, is it doubtful that wage compression per se would be sufficient to deliver significant improvements in export performance.

Graph 2.2.4: Competitiveness and export performance (2008-2014)

(1) 2014 data based on forecast Source: European Commission

Poor export performance is more likely linked to structural features of the Croatian economy and loss of non-cost competitiveness. Beyond relatively high labour costs (in absolute terms), the concentration of Croatian exports in non-growing product and geographical markets, the limited degree of integration in global value-chains and inefficiencies in product and factor markets hinder the penetration of Croatian firms in foreign markets. These weaknesses translate into a lower demand for Croatian goods. While almost all central and eastern European Member States have an export income elasticity of about 1, the value for Croatia is around 0.6 (see Graph 2.2.5). Differences in price elasticity and in elasticity to trade‑partner proximity are less relevant in statistical terms and are a smaller factor in Croatia’s export gap. Lower income elasticity signifies that Croatia is less able than its competitors to benefit from the proximity of rich markets ([12]).

Graph 2.2.5: Elasticity of exports to income, price and distance

(1)Histograms represent the absolute value of the elasticities. Elasticities with respect to distance and relative prices are negative. Source: European Commission

The unfavourable initial product specialisation and destination of Croatian exports does not explain the recent weak export performance. In its 2014 in‑depth review, the Commission highlighted the role of disadvantageous specialisation in less dynamic regions and industries. Croatia was penalised by reliance on the depressed Italian, Bosnian and Slovenian markets, limited presence in fast‑growing market segments and a heavy reliance on depressed sectors, including machinery, metals and vessels. However, updated analysis reveals that, if anything, the initial structure contributed positively to export shares in 2012-13, so that the contraction of world export‑market shares in that period was entirely attributable to weak competiveness (see graph 2.2.6).

Graph 2.2.6: Decomposition of changes in export market shares

Source: European Commission

Apart from a relatively high share of high-value-added goods, the export structure appears biased towards labour- and resource-intensive sectors. The share of high value added exports is slightly higher than in the EU-10. Croatia however features a significantly higher share of low-value-added exports in labour-intensive or raw-material intensive sectors, such as wood and cork, construction materials, leather products and footwear and animal products. These sectors are likely to have been more penalised by the relatively moderate increases in labour costs and increasing trade from developing countries ([13]). As shown in graph 2.2.7, Croatia falls significantly behind its peer economies in trade in capital‑intensive and easily imitable R&D‑based goods ([14]).

In the higher value-added range, Croatian firms also appear to be struggling to scale up the quality of their products. Despite higher labour costs in medium-to-low- and high‑technology-intensive industries, Slovenian firms outperform their Croatian counterparts in terms of product quality. Croatian firms appear to be struggling with quality enhancement and rely excessively on the cost dimension to improve their competitive edge ([15]). This shows that cost moderation can help short- and medium‑term performance but not remedy more lasting weaknesses.

Graph 2.2.7: SITC structure of goods exports in Croatia and peer economies (percentage of total exports, 2013)

Source: European Commission

The limited integration of Croatian firms in global value‑chains hinders the improvement of non-cost competitiveness and is likely to increase sensitivity to price increases. As a consequence of the fragmentation of previously integrated production process, trade in intermediate goods — i.e. input that has itself been produced and is used up in production – has significantly increased over the past years. This trade is particularly relevant for catching up economies, since the shift from price- towards quality-driven competitiveness is challenging for firms and industries in transition economies due to a lack of relevant skills and knowledge, and obstacles in accessing technology. In most of the countries in the region, imports of intermediate goods and machinery drove the changes in export structure. Local enterprises acquired foreign inputs and know-how in order to improve production quality and expand exports to the EU ([16]). Outsourcing and offshoring is likely to have been used to a more limited extent in the case of Croatia. Consequently the volume of trade in intermediate and capital goods (which includes parts and accessories of equipment) is significantly less developed than in peer economies (see Graph 2.2.8). The limited internationalisation of Croatian firms is also evident by the low import content of exports. As shown in Graph 2.2.9 this was only 22.5% compared with an average of 37.4% for the central and eastern European new Member States, or about half the share of Slovakia – the regional peer with the highest import content of exports) ([17]).

Graph 2.2.8: BEC structure of exports of goods in Croatia and peer economies (percentage of total exports, 2013)

Source: European Commission

The weak internationalisation of Croatian firms is also explained by FDI, which, although sizeable, bypassed export-oriented sectors. FDI has contributed significantly to export restructuring in central and eastern Europe, but the impact has not been even. The EU-10 succeeded in increasing exports predominantly in higher-end technology industries, while Croatia and other non-EU counties specialised in exporting the product of lower-end technology industries. The available evidence suggests that early EU accession played a significant role in shaping the scale and the nature of the FDI ([18]). As already documented in the 2014 in-depth review, FDI in Croatia largely bypassed the tradable sector.

Graph 2.2.9: Import content of exports (2005)

Source: European Commission

In the absence of a clear strategy, FDI was not systematically directed towards sectors with high growth potential. It was essentially linked to the privatisation process, with limited greenfield investments ([19]). An FDI strategy to accompany the ambitious industrial strategy currently being elaborated by the government and further privatisation plans could ensure that FDI increasingly targeted exporting industries. Greenfield investments should be prioritised however given the limited number of SOEs operating in the tradable sector. Measures tackling specific bottlenecks in product and factor market will be key to making Croatia more attractive for FDI. Equally important is the development of a communication strategy on its comparative advantages in this respect, due to its strategic location potentially linking central and eastern European countries to the unstable, though potentially high-growth economies in Europe’s southern and eastern neighbourhood.

Inefficiencies in the national innovation system undermine firms’ innovation capacity and efforts to enhance the quality of domestic production. As will be discussed in section 3.4, Croatia is currently stuck in a low‑innovation growth model. The national innovation system is characterised by its closed nature, sub-scale investment, excessive fragmentation and badly defined policies and supporting instruments. Whereas endogenous innovation capacity appears at the current juncture to be the binding constraint for Croatia, exporting industries would benefit from a more supportive innovation system that would enhance technology absorption capacity and non-R&D-based innovation.

Structural bottlenecks in product and factor markets affect firms’ capacity to penetrate foreign markets. Recent literature has highlighted that aggregate export performance can be better explained by firms’ microeconomic behaviour, rather than by aggregate indexes of competitiveness. Croatian exporting firms are on average more productive, have higher sales and have more capital-intensive processes. These positive characteristics improve further following a breakthrough on export markets ([20]). Ultimately, a significant bottleneck to exports from Croatia is likely to be represented by the small number of firms with productivity levels above the export threshold. The very same factors that are limiting allocative efficiency – including the restrictive business environment – therefore also contribute to the weak performance of exports. A particular role in this context is played by regulations hindering the internationalisation of business. A recent European Commission review has highlighted how, in comparative perspective, Croatia scores particularly badly on business indicators of the cost, time and administrative requirements for import and export (see Graph 2.2.10).

Graph 2.2.10: Internationalisation relevant indicators – distance from EU average (std. dev.)

Source: European Commission (2013): ’2014 SBA Fact Sheet – Croatia

Exports of services

Croatia outperforms most of its regional peers in the export of services, thanks mainly to its all-important tourism sector. Croatia has been able to preserve its environment - 47% of its land and 39% of its maritime territory is designated as specially protected areas and areas of conservation and it hosts almost 20 national parks. Its natural beauty draws in millions of tourists each year, with tourism revenues representing around 15% of the country’s GDP. Only the two Mediterranean island-states of Malta and Cyprus have comparable tourism sectors in terms of contribution to GDP. Analysis of revealed comparative advantages shows an improvement in the performance of the sector, though the two high-potential sectors of transportations and other services (which mostly include services to enterprises) have deteriorated in recent years. Revenues from tourism have performed well in the past decade and, despite weaker performance in previous years, 2014 was another excellent year.

Graph 2.2.11: Export of services

Source: European Commission

The Croatian tourism sector is struggling to evolve from a model of mass tourism to a model of tourism based on higher quality. Despite a significant increase in the number of nights spent in tourist accommodations, the increase in tourism revenues has been relatively modest in recent years, suggesting that increases in volumes are being achieved by lowering the average price of the services ([21]).The structural weaknesses of the tourism industry include outdated products, poor traffic infrastructure, old−fashioned forms of accommodation and overall tourist infrastructure, low‑quality accommodation and other services, high seasonality and the absence of branding. Scaling-up the quality of services will involve significant structural changes, but also a change in the target group, moving away from large group-based, seasonal, price-conscious, passive tourists to value-conscious smaller groups and families seeking higher quality.

Graph 2.2.12: Revenue from tourism and number of nights in tourism establishments

(1) The size of the circle represents the share of the tourism sector as a percentage of GDP Source: European Commission

A large tourism sector is likely to generate negative spillover effects on other industries, and risks crowding-out the tradable sector. Broz and Dubravčić suggest that Croatia might suffer from industrial decline due to its oversized tourism sector ([22]).

The Croatian authorities show awareness of the need to scale up the quality of tourist services, but have so far showed limited active involvement. Because of the specificity of the tourist sector, public authorities play a crucial role that ranges from promoting and preserving the attractiveness of the country and/or specific regions, to developing infrastructure and structuring the various private-sector service providers. Cooperation and partnership between many organisations and interest groups (public, private and non-profit) is the basis of destination management. Environmental sustainability has been central to Croatian strategic planning on tourism for over two decades, but little has been done to move away from a low value‑added equilibrium. There are few examples of local government participating with other sector stakeholders in the development of the industry Going forward the key challenge is to provide the sector with market (domestic competition, internationalisation) and non-market (regulation, public procurement) stimuli and framework conditions to facilitate diversification and avoid a lock-in into low-value-added and adverse terms of trade over the long term. The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report also notes that in order to improve the sector’s competitiveness, there is room to upgrade its ground railroad transport infrastructure, its ports, and its air transport infrastructure. More efforts should also be devoted to ensuring that policy rules and regulations are support the development of the sector with improvements in areas such as FDI, property rights protection and red tape. A high-value-added tourism sector could to increase the multiplier effect – so that the impact of tourism spreads to the whole economy – thus overcoming the negative externalities referred to above.

Graph 2.2.13: BEC Structure of imports, 2013

Source: European Commission

Imports of goods and services

The comparatively low import penetration rate signals that Croatia is not leveraging industry‑specific comparative advantages typical of competitive small and open economies. At about 44 %, Croatia’s import penetration rate is substantially smaller than the corresponding average figure in regional peer economies (62.5 %) and far below the 78 % average of the small and open economies of the Baltic States ([23]). However, this rate essentially reflects the relatively closed nature of the Croatian economy and the fact that Croatian firms produce mainly for the domestic market, rather than specialising in export-oriented sectors by leveraging country-specific comparative advantages.

The structure of imports reveals weaknesses in the competitiveness of domestic production. Croatia’s imports are characterised by a relatively high proportion of import of consumer goods. Inter-industry trade is far below that of its regional peers, as witnessed by the low proportion of trade in intermediate and capital goods (especially in the latter category which include equipment and parts and accessories thereof). Another prominent feature is the high proportion of fuels-related imports. This is partly explained by the high energy dependence, but also by intra-industry trade, since Croatia also features a relatively high share of exports of fuels (see Graph 2.2.8). The high rate of penetration of finished goods signals gaps in the productive structure and/or domestic firms’ inability to compete with international firms. Analysis shows that the import content of final demand components (i.e. households and government consumption and investment) is higher than the corresponding values for Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, while (see above) the export content is significantly lower. ([24])

Evidence of structural weaknesses and gaps in the domestic production system are highlighted by the limited capacity of domestic producers to meet increases in demand and/or provide cheaper substitutes. Several studies have highlighted relatively high import elasticity with respect to income and relatively low price elasticity. In particular, high income elasticity (i.e. higher than one) signals domestic producers’ inability to accommodate increases in domestic demand, as imports increase proportionally more than the increase in aggregate demand. Low price elasticity (i.e. lower than one), on the other hand, signals that domestic producers do not avail themselves fully of their cost advantage, since reductions in domestic aggregate prices lead to a less-than-proportional import substitution effects. Taken together, these parameters indicate gaps in domestic production (i.e. incapacity to address all segments of domestic demand) and possibly weaker non-cost competitiveness ([25]). Reininger (2007) compares import elasticity for most central and eastern European countries, but disaggregates elasticities by demand component ([26]). The study finds that Croatia stands out in two respects: very high elasticity of imports with respect to consumption and low elasticity with respect to exports (see Graph 2.2.14). This result is consistent with the low import content of exports discussed above.

Graph 2.2.14: Import elasticities with respect to final demand components

(1) Shaded histograms represent non-significant coefficients Source: Reininger T., Factors Driving Import Demand in Central and Eastern European EU Member States, Oesterreichische Nationalbank Workshops, No. 14, 2007, pp. 163-183.

Balance of primary and secondary incomes and capital transfers

The accumulation of external liabilities generates a conspicuous outflow of investment income. Privatisations and follow-up investments by parent companies ushered in flows of FDI flows averaging 6% of GDP in the years before the crisis. Long-term loans to corporates and foreign banks’ deposits were broadly equal. As a consequence of these inflows and valuation effects driven by growing domestic asset prices, the value in the economy of the stock of foreign-held liabilities grew more than five-fold between 2000 and mid-2007, when the NIIP reached almost -95% of GDP. Consequently, an increasing amount of national income was flowing out of the Croatian economy to remunerate foreign owned assets. The contraction of the economy has nevertheless taken a toll on the profits of domestic and foreign-owned companies, bringing about a stabilisation of the investment income outflows at less than 2% of GDP.

Remittances and compensation for employees have broadly offset the negative balance of investment income. Typically a relatively minor component in the current-account composition of advanced economies, remittances from old and new emigrants and compensation of seasonal and frontier workers play a significant role in the case of Croatia, which (given its large diaspora and recent migration outflows) receives the highest net remittances per person in the EU (almost EUR 500 per person residing in Croatia in 2013).

In the long-term a relatively high share of remittances can have both positive and negative effects. Positive microeconomic effects of high remittances can be offset by negative macroeconomic long-term impacts, though most empirical evidence is based on emerging economies. On the positive side, remittances improve the welfare of individual households lifting families out of poverty. They are often used for consumption smoothening, thus insuring households against income shocks. On the negative side, however, remittance flows, especially if relatively permanent, may lead to the currency appreciation and distort capital and labour allocation. By increasing consumption, decreasing labour supply and slowing down capital accumulation, remittances are associated with worsening deficits in the trade balance. Evidence for Croatia suggests that remittances have played a significant impact in reducing inequality and the severity (if not the extent) of poverty. However, there is also evidence that a significant proportion of remittances were channelled to the construction sector and real-estate investments, thus contributing to the asset bubble ([27]). Moreover, abundant remittances contributed, together with tourism and FDIs, to the relative appreciation of the kuna and the real effective exchange rate, negatively affecting industry and exports.

The absorption of EU funds will have a tangible positive effect on the capital and income transfer balance, likely to be partly offset by higher imports. Government transfers contributed negatively to the balance of primary and secondary incomes in 2013 and is forecasted to have continued to do so in 2014, due to a lag between contributions to and from the EU budget. With the take-up of EU funds potentially totalling up to 3 pps. of GDP per year at cruising speed, the balance of government transfers, primary incomes and capital transfers are all set to improve significantly. If anything, the above discussion on FDI, the tourism sector and remittances should give rise to caution as to the potentially distortionary effects that such inflows can have on a relatively small open economy and tight policy control to ensure that funds boost productive investment.

Graph 2.2.15: Balance of primary and secondary incomes

Source: Croatian National Bank

Net investment position and external debt

The slow-down of capital inflows and sizeable valuation effects have stabilised the negative net investment position. The burst of the financial bubble transformed the external financing of the economy. Between 2008 and 2009, direct equity investment dropped by almost 65%, while (with a year lag) direct loans plummeted by more than 90%. In the meantime, as NFCs and especially SOEs shifted financing from foreign to domestic sources, the general government increased its external financing. However, it was the sharp negative valuation effects of assets held by foreigners and, to a minor extent, the still high nominal growth that drove the initial contraction in the NIIP. The contraction was particularly sharp in 2008, when the value of liabilities shrunk by more than 20% of GDP. After a short-lived rebound, valuation effects have continued to reduce the value of the stock of outstanding direct liabilities in the past two years. As a result, the negative NIIP has been trending around 90% of GDP, despite current account deficits continuing until 2013.

Graph 2.2.16: Net international investment position (NIIP)

Source: Croatian National Bank

The changing pattern of external financing and the strong valuation effects have partly altered the structure of the NIIP, while gross external debt is still increasing. Increased foreign borrowing by the sovereign and, to a lesser extent, cross-border, inter-company lending have put gross external debt on a rapidly increasing trend (almost 108% of GDP in Q3-2014). Consequently, whereas by 2007 ne