Speaking to reporters after the presentation of a World Bank report, Rohatinski, whose second six-year term at the helm of the HNB expires on July 12, said he was leaving because he could no longer cooperate successfully with the government led by Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic.

"I have stated on several occasions that I'm willing to stay at the HNB if the government decides that we can cooperate successfully, but the government has decided that such cooperation is no longer possible. PM Milanovic told me that a few days ago on the telephone," said Rohatinski.

Asked if the split was due to his policy of keeping the kuna stable, Rohatinski said the practice so far had shown that a stable kuna exchange rate was one of the main preconditions of keeping the entire system stable, and that he saw no reason to change that policy.

Speaking earlier in the day at a conference on the World Bank report on the European economic model, Rohatinski said that sustainable economic growth in the current time of crisis was possible only with the necessary level of saving.

Croatia should combine structural reforms, a restrictive fiscal policy and a reasonably expansive monetary policy in order to redirect limited financial assets from spending to investment, as a way of kick-starting sustainable economic growth with a low inflation rate and a stable kuna exchange rate, he said.

"I hope the government and the HNB with a new governor will take that path," said Rohatinski, thanking the public for supporting him over the last 12 years.