Ante Marković - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He became prime minister in March 1989 following the resignation of Branko Mikulić. After that decision had become public, the U.S. had anticipated cooperation because Marković was known "to favor market-oriented reforms" ^[4] - the BBC declared that he is "Washington's best ally in Yugoslavia".^[5] At the end of the year, Marković launched a new and ambitious program of unprecedented economic reforms, including stabilization of currency and privatization, as well as a program of limited trade liberalization. The result of his monetary reform was a temporary halt to inflation leading to a short-lived rise in Yugoslavia's otherwise plummeting standard of living. Nonetheless, the short-term effect of economic reforms undertaken by Marković led to a decline in Yugoslavia's industrial sector. Numerous bankruptcies occurred as the state-owned enterprises struggled to compete in a more free market environment, a fact later wielded against Marković by his many ethnic nationalist political opponents. By 1990, the annual rate of growth in GDP had declined to -7.5%. In 1991, GDP declined by a further 15 percent and industrial output decreased by 21 percent.