It seems that the fear of the negative effects of the economic crisis exists only among the macroeconomists and finance managers and that the broader social circles reflect different trends.

In Croatia, the statistics on credit card charges are especially indicative, since for some time we have become a nation living on credit. Erste Card Club, issuers of Diners credit cards, cannot go public with any data yet, but stated that ‘’the credit card charges in December 2008 were according to estimates and 7% higher than December 2007’’. Mrs. Sara Zadravec, Corporate Communication manager, said that they are still compiling January 2009 data. PBZ Card, issuers of the American Express card, gave us more details. According to their data, the users of the famous AmEx cards were thriftier in December 2008. With 1 billion kunas of card charges, they levelled out at December 2007 figures. The amount of transactions is 3 million, which is 5 % more than in the same period of 2007. ‘’Looking at the entire year, we noted 10 % more card charges than the year before. Similar growth can also be noticed in the amount of transactions. We would like to emphasize the fact that we are recording a slight increase in the average monthly charges by our credit card user.’’ – announced PBZ Card, not stating the exact amount of charges. PBZ Card noted a reduction in card charges during January 2009, adding that ‘’it was an expected consequence of seasonal oscillations’’. The reduction in the amount of charges (number of transactions and money amounts) is somewhat less than 20%, in comparison to December 2008.
(AmCham)