We will first establish facts about tacitly accepted overdrafts and then make decisions if necessary

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that he wanted to establish all the facts in relation to the topic of phasing out tacitly accepted overdrafts and announced a meeting with the central bank's governor about the topic on Thursday.

During a visit to Bled, Slovenia, Plenković said that he had discussed the topic briefly with the finance minister and that it would be on the agenda of today's meeting of his inner cabinet.

"There is plenty of information circulating, I do not know if all of it is true, regarding the interest charged and the number of bank clients concerned," he added.

"If necessary, we will amend the relevant legislation," the premier said, adding that he had asked to meet with the Croatian National Bank (HNB) governor on Thursday.

Plenković said that he would also convene a meeting with top executives of commercial banks, if necessary.

If there is a void that leads to situations in which consumers are not informed of some financial repercussion, we will regulate it, said Plenković.

On Monday, the HNB recommended that until regulations on tacitly accepted overdrafts were amended, commercial banks should apply the effective interest rate and make it possible for their clients to cover those overdrafts through instalment payments or reduce overdrafts. The central bank also noted that reports about mass-scale cancellation of overdrafts by banks were not true.

This issue as well as the HNB's initiative to amend the relevant regulations in order to set the maximum interest charged on tacitly accepted overdrafts have stirred up a lot of discussion in the public.

On protective masks

In his response to President Zoran Milanović's statement that anti-epidemic rules are confusingly erratic and his questioning the rule that people who got vaccinated against coronavirus should wear protective masks, Plenković said that if a recommendation was made (by epidemiologists) that all should wear protective masks, one should use them.

"I think that we have addressed all that should have been addressed with the rules," said Plenković, adding that he could now only trust people's common-sense and prudence and their wish to have a good public health situation.

He also said that when travelling abroad, President Milanović also wears protective masks although he has been immunised.

Text: Hina

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