In cooperation with the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Zagreb and Rifin, the Croatian National Bank hosted today a scientific gathering in memoriam of the professor emeritus Pero Jurković, PhD, a former Governor of the CNB, during whose term in office the Kuna became the national currency, which was attended by numerous economists, representatives of the academia, and business and political circles.
Among those attending the gathering were Mr Zdravko Marić, PhD, Finance Minister, prof. Lajoš Žager, PhD, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb, prof. Zoran Jašić, PhD, a former Finance Minister, Mr Guste Santini, PhD, Editor in chief of the magazine Ekonomija and Mr Hrvoje Šimović, PhD, of the Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb.
In his opening address, Relja Martić, Deputy Governor, stressed the importance of the contribution made by prof. Pero Jurković to the development of the Croatian central bank, the Faculty of Economics and the monetary system of the Republic of Croatia as a whole. He reminded those present at the gathering of the achievements made during prof. Jurković's term in office, the Kuna was introduced and the areas of foreign currency operations, payment services and banking system were regulated. The Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business, Mr Lajoš Žager, underlined the scientific work and mentoring activities of prof Jurković, which contributed to the quality of education at the Faculty of Economics and for which he was honoured by the Faculty with an award instituted for young scientists and bearing his name. The former Finance Minister, Zoran Jašić, recalling the times when he cooperated with prof. Jurković, reminded us of the message often repeated by prof. Jurković that currency stability is not everything but that it is the foundation for everything, and pointed to the necessity of implementing real reforms in Croatia.
When speaking about the possible impacts of the fiscal policy in a small and open economy, the Finance Minister, Zdravko Marić, said that fiscal policy will respond to challenges posed by public debt by stabilising it and reducing it, that is, by bringing the budget deficit within a sustainable framework of 3% of GDP. He also stressed the importance of advancing the potential of the Croatian economy.
Prof. Mladen Vedriš focused on the issue of implementing reforms and pointed out that reforms should be based on quality assessments and scientific analyses. However, he said, in order for them to be successful, their implementation needs to be steadfast.
An open discussion was held in the second part of the conference and was followed by a presentation of the scientific papers featured in the latest issue of the magazine Ekonomija.