Finance Minister: Opposition should state if they will support law on CHF loans after election

The Jutarnji List daily published in its Monday issue an interview with Denis Smajo, an activist of the Franak association of holders of Swiss franc loans, who claimed that Lalovac "has told him that the banks, some people from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Constitutional Court have agreed that there will be no conversion" of such loans into euros.

 

Commenting on that statement, Lalovac told the press that this was information that had been released in the media. "That's nothing new, that is information I heard too, but I didn't spread it," he said.

 

"I can only say that there are various rumours going around and they have also reached me. I cannot verify whether they are true or not, but I never said that in that context, that it was my information and that I knew of it. The Constitutional Court is independent and I have no knowledge that such an agreement exists," Lalovac said.

 

The question of the constitutionality of the Consumer Credit Act and the Credit Institutions Act, which address the problem of converting Swiss franc-denominated loans to euro loans has been raised in several media over the past few days, Lalovac said. He stressed, however, that legislative provisions were written in such a way that they would not be quashed by the Constitutional Court or the European Commission.

 

The Franak association on Monday condemned media speculation that the law on the conversion of CHF loans would be quashed by the Constitutional Court, claiming that this was putting pressure on the court.

(Text: Hina)