June 2001
A fleeting moment in the sun
Offered a rare chance to jump into the first rank of transition economies, the jewel of the Adriatic must choose between getting ahead and just getting by.
Zagreb, Croatia's picturesque capital, is famous for its cafés. On
nearly every block tables spill out onto the sidewalk, or even the
street, filled with well-dressed locals sipping coffees and
cocktails.
Try to find an actual restaurant, however, and you could walk
kilometres.
Many Croatians reflexively use this as a metaphor for their
economy. The country's wealth of low-hanging economic fruit - a
majestic coastline and large inward flows of remittances - masks a
general lack of nourishment, and tempts the public and policymakers
to put off or water down much-needed reforms. Although well ahead
of the war-ravaged former Yugoslav republics to the east, Croatia
trails star EU candidate Slovenia and other advanced transition
countries, and runs the danger of complacently muddling through
another decade.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zagreb: a café society, but good
restaurants are hard to find |
The prevailing economic and political climate in the small
republic of roughly 4.5 million flows from the homeland war of
1991-95 and its aftermath and last year's sweeping change of
government.
This is archived content. Your current settings does not currently allow access to the archive. To gain access visit the subscription page or call our hotline on +44 (0)207 779 8999.
If you are a trialist or subscriber, please enter your username and password at the top right-hand side of euromoney.com
Subscribers to Euromoney benefit from:
Level 1:
- Online access to the past 12 months content
- Tailored RSS news feeds direct to your desktop
- News delivered directly to your mobile device or PC
- Personalised email newsfeed of 'Top stories' and 'Breaking news'
Level 2:
- Exclusive access to euromoney.com - Read the latest issue early online, search for specific developments by region or sector, interrogate the results of Euromoney's benchmark polls, and view the archive dating back to 2000
- 12 monthly issues of Euromoney magazine
- More than 30 specialist research guides free
- The results of Euromoney’s polls and surveys
- Tailored RSS news feeds direct to your desktop
- News delivered directly to your mobile device or PC
- Personalised email newsfeed of 'Top stories' and 'Breaking news'
Click here to subscribe