The CNB Council, chaired by Deputy Governor Boris Vujčić, met Wednesday and discussed recent economic and monetary developments, accepted the CNB's Annual Report for 2004 and the Annual Report of the Croatian Monetary Institute for the same year, and passed some decisions relating to its field of competence.

There are several indicators showing significant economic and monetary developments in the first few months of this year. Economic growth slowed down, according to data from a number of sectors (industry, trade, construction), the inflation rate increased (mostly due to the rise in the prices of agricultural and refined petroleum products), and appreciation pressures on the exchange rate persisted despite continued strong liquidity of the banking system. In addition, the government used short-term borrowing to bridge the gap between budget revenues and expenditures, whose further trends will have to be closely observed.

The CNB Council gave its approval for Podravska banka d.d. Koprivnica to acquire a majority holding in Požeška banka d.d. Požega, for Zagrebačka banka d.d. Zagreb to take over and merge Dresdner Bank Croatia d.d. Zagreb, and for the Croatian Pension Investment Company Ltd. to acquire (on behalf of its closed-end investment fund - Kapitalni fond d.d.) a qualifying holding in Banka Brod d.d. Slavonski Brod.

Following the proposals of the banks' supervisory boards, the CNB Council also approved the appointment of Anton Kovačev as chairman of the CBRD management board, Siniša Žanetić as member of the management board of Partner banka d.d. Zagreb, Julije Kuruc as chairman of the management board of Podravska banka d.d. Koprivnica, Ivan Mihaljević as chairman of Slavonska banka d.d. Osijek, Snježana Herceg as chairwoman and Srećko Maceković as member of the management board of Prva stambena štedionica d.d. Zagreb.