Thus, the EBRD lowered the forecasts for Croatia this year after the bank predicted the country's economic growth of one percent in its forecasts in late January.

According to the EBRD, Croatia's economy saw a growth of only 0.1% in 2011 as against the previous assessments of 0.3%.

"In Croatia, the economy appears to be stuck in a rather stagnant mode, and growth in 2012 is likely to be either nonexistent or negative, reflecting the overall lack of competitiveness in the economy. However, the signing of the EU Accession Treaty at the end of last year and the realistic prospect of full EU membership in mid-2013 are positive signals for the medium term and may help to revive confidence and investment," the EBRD said in its latest Regional Economic Prospects on Friday.

The region of Central Europe and Baltic countries "remains exposed to the ongoing slowdown in European industrial production and the deleveraging by European banks. While so far these countries have withstood the impact of the former relatively well, the withdrawal of bank liquidity continues to weigh on credit access and investment by enterprises. These countries show much more modest public debt levels than elsewhere in the EU, though have nevertheless embarked on austerity programmes which has helped in preventing a deterioration in investor sentiment seen elsewhere in the EU."