Delegation of Montenegro at the World Bank and the IMF Meetings

12/10/2018

As the World Bank and the IMF annual meetings continued, the delegation of Montenegro, headed by the Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro, Radoje Žugić, and the Minister of Finance in the Government of Montenegro, Darko Radunović, had a number of meetings today.

In addition to the plenary session of the World Bank and the IMF, which was opened by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, the delegation had several bilateral meetings.

At a meeting with the Executive Director of the Dutch-Belgian Constituency of the IMF Board, Anthony de Lannoy, and his deputy, Richard Doornbosch, Governor Žugić pointed to the fact that the economic growth achieved in Montenegro is higher than expected and that the financial and macroeconomic situation in the country has been significantly improved. He also emphasized that the level of non-performing loans in the banking system continued to decline, and that they now pose a challenge to individual banks only. 

Minister Radunović said that accelerated economic growth should be used for the implementation of structural reforms, which are very important.

Anthony de Lannoy pointed out that "he is very pleased to confirm that the economic situation in Montenegro has been significantly improved" and, as the meeting continued, he introduced to our delegation the new head of the IMF mission to Montenegro and offered technical assistance in areas that are assessed priority.

The delegation met with the Deputy Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) of the IMF, Mr Savastano. The exceptional cooperation with the Ministry of Finance in the public debt management segment was underlined at this meeting. In this regard, the quality of technical cooperation with Montenegro was especially praised in the MCM report for the past year and considered as one of the best examples of coordination. The possibility of continuing technical cooperation in the field of development of the domestic capital market was discussed, along with maintaining careful relations of the banks' exposure towards the State and with further improvement of the Debt Management Strategy. In order to further develop the financial system, technical assistance was requested for the improvement of consolidated supervision and the development of mechanisms for the banks’ resolution.

In the afternoon, the delegation also met representatives of the NRW Bank, headed by Executive Director, Frank Richter, who discussed the current situation in international financial markets, as well as the management of foreign exchange reserves. Discussions with representatives of the De la Rue Company with regard to cash management and safekeeping also continued.

As for the meeting with the Executive Director of the International Finance Corporation for Europe and Central Asia, Ms Wiebke Schloemer, Minister Radunović expressed satisfaction with the significant increase in the IFC's portfolio in Montenegro, especially in the area of infrastructure and financing of local government projects. Particular emphasis was given to the quality of expert assistance provided by IFC on the Montenegro Airports concession project. It was pointed out that the adoption of the new Law on Public-Private Partnership opens new possibilities for cooperation with Montenegro, since the IFC has a huge comparative advantage in the implementation of public-private partnerships. 

Our delegation, together with the representatives of the other 14 member countries, also participated in the meeting of the Dutch-Belgian Constituency, where the latest global macroeconomic trends and their impact on the Member States were analysed.