December 6 (SeeNews) - The governor of Croatia's central bank (HNB), Boris Vujcic, said that Croatia is still burdened by weak growth of labour productivity - despite other economic successes achieved since the country joined the EU.
"After entering the EU, Croatia is a achieving growth on healthier grounds: exports are growing, the liquidity surplus is stable, and macroeconomic imbalances are decreasing. However, the Croatian economy is still characterised by weak growth of labour productivity," Boris Vujcic said in a statement on Tuesday.
Labour productivity in Croatia is mostly laden by excessive regulatory burdens and an insufficiently stimulating business environment, he noted.
"Our biggest problem is the unused labour potential, as evidenced by the fact that the employment rate is only 56.57%," Vujcic said.
He explained that in order to remedy the situation and boost growth, Croatia needs to implement structural reforms. This will also bring Croatia's GDP and living standards closer to the levels recorded in the leading economies of the EU.
"It is necessary to raise the rate of participation of the labour force on the labour market, as well as the employment rate, otherwise Croatia will lag behind comparable countries," Vujcic concluded.
Croatia's registered unemployment rate rose to 11.6% in October from 10.8% in September.