[4] Born Martina Štimec in Velika Gorica to a father from Letovanić and a mother from Vrlika,[3] Dalić graduated from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Economics and Business in 1990.
[2] After HDZ returned to power following the 2003 election, Dalić returned to the ministry in 2004 and worked at the Central State Strategy Office (Središnji državni ured za strategiju)[2] and was the country's chief negotiator in matters pertaining to financial legislation during Croatia's European Union accession negotiations.
On 22 September 2014, Dalić left HDZ because she believed that the party did not offer a program that would bring Croatia out of the economic crisis.
In an open letter she wrote: "Croatia can't handle another unprepared government which deals with itself and only stays on the surface of the problem.
The economic team of the HDZ has no coordination, no leadership, no clear direction and specific addressing the real causes of this protracted Croatian crisis.