The Croatian National Bank conducted today the first of the four structural repo operations planned for this year. At the auction, a total of HRK 565 million was placed, with a maturity of four years and interest rate of 1.8 percent, which added to the abundant kuna liquidity in the market. As expected, the introduction of structural operations lowered the kuna yield curve. With the expected gradual increase in lending activity, aligned with stronger economic recovery, it is estimated that the effect of the total amount of structural repo operations in 2016 could be approximately equal to a one percentage point reduction in the reserve requirement rate, i.e. around HRK 3 billion.
