29th economists conference in Opatija

The Croatian Economic Association organized its 29^th conference in Opatija from 10 - 12 November 2021 under the title "Croatian economic policy in 2022 - post-pandemic challenges". The conference was attended by a large number of economic experts, representatives of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, academia, expert bodies and undertakings. The president of the Competition Council, Mirta Kapural, PhD, attended the first day of the conference.

In the limelight of the conference were the current issues of the Croatian economy in the post-pandemic era, such as economic policy, labour market, digitalization, green economy, the National Recovery Programme, growing industries of the future and the financing and organization of the health sector in the Republic of Croatia.

The prime minister, Andrej Plenković, MSc, laid down the main guidelines for the economic policy of the Republic of Croatia in 2022 and particularly highlighted the importance of the investment in innovation, promotion of exports and strengthening of the competitiveness despite of the pandemics, taking into account the responsibility in public financing.

The minister of finance, Zdravko Marić, PhD, provided a detailed analysis of the fiscal policy in 2022, explained the planned adoption of the Act on Euro, the preparations for the introduction of euro and clarified the dual price display in the beginning and explained that the conversion cost will be borne by the financial institutions and not clients or consumers.

The governor of the Croatian National Bank, Prof. Boris Vujčić, PhD, held a presentation entitled "Fear of great inflation: Monetary policy and inflation in pandemic crisis recovery". He pointed out that the perception of inflation is greater than the inflation itself.

The minister of labour, pension system, family and social policy, Josip Aladrović, focused on the labour market in the post-pandemic environment. The future of the labour market will bring about new jobs that we cannot imagine today, he elucidated. Digital solutions and the green transition will significantly affect the labour market and put a new emphasis on competences.