RELATIVE PRICES, RATE OF EXCHANGE AND COMPETITIVENESS OF THE CROATIAN ECONOMY – THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STABILIZATION PROGRAM

The paper is conceived as an academic discussion about the Stabilization program conception from the point of view of its ten-year influence on the real sector competitiveness of the Croatian economy. It researches its developmental aspect, avoiding the questions of financial market mechanisms and their stability, to which other authors pay substantial attention. Thus the article consists of: introduction; theory of relative prices and rate of exchange within the context of competitive developmental strategies; the ten-year trend
of real effective exchange rates and relative prices in some transitional countries – as the statement of alternative starting points of monetary and economic policy. It especially deals with the questions of convergence toward common currency, and towards EU. The synthesis of the analyses is given in the form of general conclusion.