On the last day of December the Croatian National Bank announced the redemption of compulsory CNB bills in the amount of HRK 333.3m. For the first time the redemption was conducted in accordance with the decisions governing the decrease in the rate of reserve requirements from 13.5% to 12% and the purchase of compulsory CNB bills, which were adopted at the end of November in order to facilitate additional liquidity to banks, and with the aim of stimulating placements to domestic non-financial enterprises.

The Croatian National Bank shall in line with those two decisions redeem at the end of each month the compulsory CNB bills - which are otherwise non-transferable, interest-free and with the maturity of three years - from those banks which manage to increase their placements to the real sector in the amount of 50 percent of the achieved growth in such placements.

The redemption was granted to 17 banks which at the end of October had placements to the real sector in the total amount of HRK 66.6m, and according to the submitted data by the last day of November achieved the increase in such placements by a total of HRK 695.8m from end-October. This earned them the right to the redemption of compulsory CNB bills prior to maturity in the above mentioned amount.

At the same time 13 banks which at the end of October had placements to the real sector in the amount of HRK 37.4m saw a decrease in such placements at the end of November in the total amount of HRK 169.8m. Such banks are not entitled to the redemption of CNB bills purchased in line with the decrease in the reserve requirement calculation rate at the beginning of December.