Interest rates

1 Is "statutory interest" provided for in the Member State? If so, how is "statutory interest" defined in this Member State?

Yes. Statutory default interest is the interest that a debtor with a pecuniary obligation has to pay on an outstanding claim. Therefore, a debtor who fails to pay a pecuniary obligation on time also owes default interest, in addition to the principal amount.

2 If yes, what is the amount/rate and legal basis for it? If different rates of statutory interest are provided for, what circumstances and conditions apply?

The general law on default interest is the Civil Obligations Act (Zakon o obveznim odnosima) (Narodne Novine (NN; Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia), Nos 35/05, 41/08, 125/11, 78/15 and 29/18) – Articles 29-31. This Act applies unless particular legislation provides otherwise for specific persons and obligations. Under this Act, the statutory default interest rate on obligations arising from commercial contracts and contracts between a trader and a person governed by public law is to be determined on a semi-annual basis by increasing the average interest rate on one-year-plus loans to non-financial companies by five percentage points, calculated for the reference period preceding the current six-month period, and by three percentage points in the case of other obligations.

The average interest rate for the reference period is determined by the Croatian National Bank (Hrvatska narodna banka), which must publish it on 1 January and 1 July in Narodne Novine.

The average interest rate used for calculating statutory default interest for the current six-month period (from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020) is 3.11%. Therefore, for the period from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020, the statutory default interest rate is 8.11% on obligations arising from commercial contracts and contracts between a trader and a person governed by public law, and 6.11% on other obligations (e.g. obligations arising from credit agreements and other civil law contracts, extracontractual obligations - compensation, unjust enrichment).

The specific law prescribing the statutory default interest rate for certain obligations is the Financial Business and Pre-Bankruptcy Settlement Act (Zakon o financijskom poslovanju i predstečajnoj nagodbi) (NN Nos 108/12, 144/12, 81/13, 112/13, 71/15 and 78/15). This Act transposed into national law Directive 2011/7/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions. The Act applies to payment delays in commercial transactions between undertakings and between undertakings and persons governed by public law for the supply of goods or the provision of services against payment where the person governed by public law is the debtor. According to this Act, the statutory interest for delayed payments is the benchmark interest rate plus eight percentage points. The benchmark interest rate is the average interest rate on one-year-plus loans to non-financial companies, calculated for the reference period preceding the current six-month period, minus three percentage points.

The average interest rate for the reference period is determined by the Croatian National Bank (Hrvatska narodna banka), which must publish it on 1 January and 1 July in Narodne Novine.

The benchmark interest rate used for calculating statutory default interest for the current six-month period (from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020) is 0.11%. Therefore, for the period from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020, the statutory interest rate for payment delays in commercial transactions between undertakings and between undertakings and persons governed by public law where the person governed by public law is the debtor is 8.11%.

3 If necessary, is there further information available on how to calculate statutory interest?

The average interest rate for the reference period is determined by the Croatian National Bank (Hrvatska narodna banka), which must publish it on 1 January and 1 July in Narodne Novine.

Narodne Novine can be accessed by clicking on the following link: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/

4 Is there free online access available to the legal basis mentioned above?

Narodne Novine can be accessed free of charge by clicking on the following link: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/