Updated 16 February 2011
 

Financial stability, i.e. the achievement and the maintenance of financial system stability is one of the main objectives of most central banks in Europe, even when not explicitly stipulated by the laws regulating central bank activities. This is because low inflation and unemployment and fast economic growth, as common objectives of monetary authorities, cannot be achieved in the modern economy without a developed and stable financial system through which the effects of monetary policy measures can be effectively channelled to all economic sectors.

The scope of central bank activities related to the achievement and the maintenance of financial stability differs greatly from one country to another, and depends on the legislative and institutional framework as well as on the tradition of the financial system within which a central bank operates. In Croatia, as in many other European countries, the central bank (Croatian National Bank, CNB) has no legal mandate for direct operation in the field of financial stability, however, the achievement and the maintenance of the stability of the Croatian financial system is one of its major priorities.

In addition to the CNB, authorities responsible for financial stability in the Republic of Croatia are the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) and the Department for Financial System of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia (MFRH). However, the stability of the Croatian Financial System also largely depends on the activities of many other public and private institutions such as the State Agency for Deposit Insurance and Bank Rehabilitation (DAB), the Central Depository & Clearing Company (CDCC), the Financial Agency (Fina), Central Registry of Insured Persons (Regos), the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR), the Zagreb Money Market (TNZ), the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) and many others.

To ensure prompt action with a view to maintaining the country's financial stability, the CNB monitors and analyses on an ongoing basis all developments and processes which can affect this stability, and to this end it has published since June 2008 a publication entitled "Financial Stability", which continues from the former publication "Macroprudential Analysis". The CNB also publishes other professional and scientific papers directly or indirectly related to financial system stability in a collection of its occasional publications entitled "Working Papers" and "Surveys".