ZAGREB (Croatia), December 19 (SeeNews) – The Croatian central bank said on Wednesday it has doubled its discount rate to 9.0% to comply with new rate-setting legislation, making it equal to the Lombard rate for the first half of next year. "Although this discount rate has had no practical importance in the maintenance of the monetary policy, the provisions of the Civil Obligations Law that will become effective as of the beginning of next year stipulate that punitive rates and the maximum contractual rates must be set for each half-year period in relation to the discount rate," the central bank said in a statement after its last board meeting for 2007.