108 PERSPECTIVES ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS | VOL 44 | 2026 of ESIF guarantees by shifting more risk from cautious private banks to the government. Cutting some of the regulatory obstacles to microfinance could also reach borrowers declined by commercial banks. Microfinance success in Bosnia and Serbia and the former popularity of Croatian SLCs suggest strong regional appetite for these facilities. Easing rules on collateral would help too. Better asset registries would let firms borrow against moveable assets, such as equipment or vehicles, and new lending programs could let SMEs borrow against invoices their customers have not yet paid. Developing a state-sponsored SME growth fund and tax incentives for angel and seed investors could also reach the high-growth firms that ESIF debt instruments cannot. Finally, lowering the cost of formalization through simplified tax and accounting structures, to the extent Basel standards permit, for very small firms could expand the pool of SMEs with bankable documentation. Together, these recommendations address the constraints from four angles: lender willingness, alternative institutions, equity instruments, and borrower eligibility, offering potentially transformative results without threatening the modern standards Croatia has earned. The next stage of Croatia’s development is to extend the country’s hard-earned and well-deserved stability to the firms that make up the majority of its economy. References Ambrosio, F., Brasili, A., & Niakaros, K. (2021). European scale-up gap: Too few good companies or too few good investors? European Commission. Alpeza, M., Has, M., Oberman, M., Oberman Peterka, S., Perić, J., Pervan, J., & Šimić Banović, R. (2019, December). Small and medium enterprises report: Croatia – 2019. CEPOR. Bajo, A., Ovanin, Z., Primorac, M., & Šimović, H. (2018). Croatian wind power market. FISCUS, 6, 1–24. doi: 10.3326/efiscus.2018.6 Beck, T., Ionnidou, V., & Shäfer, L. (2012, June). Foreigners vs. natives: bank lending technologies and loan pricing. Management Science, 64, 3792–3820. doi: 10.1287/ mnsc.2016.2706 Berger, A. N., & Udell, G. F. (1995). Relationship lending and lines of credit in small firm finance. Journal of Business, 68, 351–381. Croatia.eu: Land and People. (n.d.). Economic transition. Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency. (2022, June). Annual report for 2021. Croatia’s industry lags EU in productivity due to low digitalisation, R&D investment. (n.d.). Association of the Balkan News Agencies Southeast Europe. Dutta, S., Lanvin, B., Rivera León, L., & Wunsch-Vincent, S. (Eds.). (2024). Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the promise of social entrepreneurship. World Intellectual Property Organization. doi: 10.34667/tind.50062 Estrin, S. (1991). Yugoslavia: The case of self-managing market socialism. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5, 187–194. doi: 10.1257/jep.5.4.187 European Central Bank. (2026). Key ECB interest rates. European Commission. (2023). 2023 Country report: Croatia. European Commission. (2025). 2025 SME country fact sheet: Croatia. European Investment Bank. (2016–2024). EIB investment survey: Croatia overview. European Microfinance Network. (2020, July). EMN legislative mapping report: Croatia. Fi-compass. (2020). Financial needs in the agriculture and agri-food sectors in Croatia. Filipović, M., Peronja, I., & Karin, I. (2022). Credit institutions in the Republic of Croatia in the period from 1991 to 2020. Transactions on Maritime Science, 11. doi: 10.7225/ toms.v11.n02.w04 Galac, T., & Dukić, L. (2008, December). Results of the fourth CNB bank survey. Croatian National Bank. HBOR (Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development). (2026). Financial statements. Helgi Library. (2026). Market share of 5 largest banks on total assets in Croatia. Hrvatski sabor [Croatian Parliament]. (2002, July 17). Law on savings and loan cooperatives. Narodne Novine. IFC. (2013). Enterprise surveys: Croatia: Country profile 2013. World Bank Group. International Monetary Fund. (1996, January 2). Croatia: Recent economic developments. International Monetary Fund. (2008, May 16). Republic of Croatia: Financial system stability assessment—Update. Investing.com. (2026). Croatia 10 year vs Germany 10 year spread bond yield. Kanagaretnam, K., Lim, C. Y., & Lobo, G. J. (2011). Effects of national culture on earnings quality of banks. Journal of International Business Studies, 42, 853–874. doi: 10.1057/jibs.2011.26 Kolaković, M., Turuk, M., & Turčić, I. (2019). Access to finance – Experiences of SMEs in Croatia. Zagreb International Review of Economics and Business, 22, 1–14. doi: 10.2478/zireb-2019-0001 Matic, J. L. (2006). The degree of uncertainty avoidance present in Croatian and American undergraduate students; a comparative analysis. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 2. OECD. (2020). Financial literacy of adults in South East Europe.
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