Meeting with the Country Manager for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro of the World Bank, Emmanuel Salinas

26/09/2018

The Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro, Mr Radoje Žugić and his associates met today with the Country Manager for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro of the World Bank, Mr Emmanuel Salinas and his associates.

Governor Žugić informed the representatives of the World Bank about the current macroeconomic situation and the situation in the financial system. He pointed out that positive trends from the first half of the year continued, which contributes to faster recovery of the economy and strengthening of public finances.

The banking system continues to record positive trends. There was a growth of total assets, loans, deposits and total capital of banks, followed by reduction of non-performing loans. Following the adoption of new regulations as of 1 January 2018, the conditions for the implementation of IFRS 9 have been met, so that banks operating in Montenegro assess financial assets and liabilities in accordance with this standard.

In the course of this year, the CBCG continues intensive activities to harmonize banking regulations with the EU legislation and international standards, as well as activities to improve existing solutions in order to achieve positive effects for the economy as a whole within the Twining project. The Governor pointed out that the Central Bank undertakes all activities within its competence to comply with the regulatory deadlines envisaged by the Twining project.

Provision of the second part of the budget support program of the World Bank to Montenegro (PBG2) which could be operational in 2019 was also discussed. Mr Salinas expressed his satisfaction that the Central Bank has good co-operation with the World Bank aimed at securing the implementation of the PBG2.

Thanks to continued support of the World Bank to our country, the Governor emphasized that the CBCG will implement all activities within its competence within the agreed deadlines, which primarily relate to further strengthening of supervision and improvement of the regulatory framework, and that it will continue to provide full contribution to reaching an agreement on the budget support program.