Keywords

Saving with a Building Society; Building Societies; Government Premium; Credit Policy; Home Loan

The Act on Saving with a Building Society and Government Incentive to Saving with a Building Society (official gazette Narodne novine, No. 109/1997), which came into force on 1 January 1998, provided for the establishment of building societies in the Republic of Croatia with the aim of stimulating special-purpose saving with a government premium on savers' paid-in funds. These funds generate interest income and, together with the government premium, enable building societies to grant favourable home loans. Two years is the minimum saving term required to qualify for such a loan. The amendments of 8 July 1999 to the Act on Saving with a Building Society and the Government Incentive to Saving with a Building Society provided for building society saving agreements with a protective monetary clause. Since then, the number of savers with building societies and the amount of accumulated savings have evidently risen. This survey covers all four building societies operating in Croatia in 2001. Its aim is to analyse the operating results of these building societies during the three-year period.