expertise and created a stable and efficient banking system. today, banks in croatia are profitable and capital adequacy ratios are well above requirements. this is fostering the development of financial intermediation in the wider economy though, thankfully, credit growth has not reached the exceptionally high rates seen elsewhere in central and eastern europe. administrative measures undertaken by the central bank to dampen credit growth appear to have had some impact. but it has been our experience that that these are circumvented over time and should be seen as buying time for fiscal policy to play a greater role in macroeconomic adjustment. i hope that i have provided some food for thought on economic development. i would like to end by emphasising that ireland firmly supports croatia ’ s objective to become a member of the eu and were delighted to see the start of accession negotiations last year. croatia can also act as a positive example to other countries in the region in terms of the willingness of the eu to help countries develop towards participation in european integration. i look forward to the day when croatia becomes a member of the eu.

what they are paid for when corrosion of character is so pervasive? i come from a profession that has little to do with the practical aspects of human resource management. i am an economist, not a human resource professional. i have my own style of resolving human resource problems that is not necessarily the ideal one. it was 1998. i had just been appointed governor of the bank. the bank ’ s operations were partially computerized. there 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches were a few senior employees who, despite having had the benefit of many sessions of training, were still averse to the use of computer. i had seized the opportunity of a meeting with staff to drive home a key point. i vividly recall having said that people hate change. the world hates change. yet it is the only thing that has brought progress. the sophisticated quality of their cars they were driving, the electrical appliances that have greatly enhanced the quality of their lives, the advanced medical facilities that have reduced suffering were some examples of the products of “ change ” that successful organisations have adapted to. i had gone on to quote harold wilson, former british prime minister of the uk, “ he who rejects change is the architect of decay. the only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery. ” my eyeballs rolled, on and on, on those who were aversive to the use of computer at the bank, while i stressed that we had to reinvent ourselves continually. it is not the strongest or the most intelligent that survives ; it is the one that is most adaptable to change. it was compelling for us to tool and re - tool, equip and reequip ourselves and keep on moving ahead if we had to keep earning a salary at the bank. the bad news was that re - engineering in any enterprise requires hard decisions. the hard decision was that those who are against change would have to head towards the exit door. guess what? samuel johnson said it beautifully : “ when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully. ” the same day the senior guys unpacked themselves to learn the difference between business ignorance and business tragedy. not long after, the same guys became the champion for change. they are still employed somewhere in the private sector, even after the age of 65. they turned out to be winners. winners are often losers who have evaluated themselves. ceos, heads of departments / divisions and human resource