At the end of last year, Croatia had 199,165 citizens with frozen bank accounts, marking the first time in 15 years that the number fell below 200,000, and this year, a further 5% decrease in their number is expected, Vinka Ilak, a member of the Management Board of the Financial Agency, said on Friday.

“Before the package of reform measures to ease and assist those with frozen accounts was introduced in 2017, there were 320,000 of them. We believe this downward trend will continue at an annual rate of 5%, unless unexpected economic events occur,” Ilak said, adding that while the total debt amount has slightly increased, the number of enforced collection cases continues to decline.

According to her, the largest consumer debts are owed to financial institutions. However, these are not significant amounts like housing loans.

“These are smaller consumer loans, overdrafts, or credit card debts. Statistically, the largest number of debts is owed to the central government, but this does not include taxes, as consumers are rarely indebted for taxes. These debts include various penalties, such as traffic fines, court fees, criminal procedure penalties, and claims owed to the state. Telecommunication operator claims are the most frequent but not significant, as these are typically smaller debts,” Ilak said.

In terms of the total number of citizens with frozen accounts, 64% are men. Men also owe more, accounting for 71% of the total debt. However, in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, women make up 59% of debtors.

At the beginning of this month, Fina received a European project to establish debt advisory centres and will work on this initiative this year, Ilak said.

“The Ministry of Finance has planned the adoption of a new Consumer Credit Act for the second quarter of this year, which will incorporate a new directive on debt counseling. The entire regulation is moving toward a more individualized approach to assistance to ensure that the help is effective and truly benefits citizens,” she concluded.