Montenegrin Delegation Meets Senior World Bank Officials
27/10/2024
The Minister of Finance, Mr Novica Vuković, and the CBCG Governor, Ms Irena Radović, led Montenegro's delegation during the annual IMF and World Bank meetings. They met with senior World Bank officials, Ms Antonella Bassani, the Vice President of the Europe and Central Asia Region, and Mr Eugene Rhuggenaath, the Executive Director.
During the meeting, Minister Vuković highlighted the government's commitment to implementing various reforms and laws to establish an institutional framework for fulfilling the remaining chapters for EU accession. Emphasising the importance of the adopted Partnership Framework for Montenegro for the period FY25–29, which amounts to USD 350 million and supports the country's goals of inclusive growth, a green economy, strong governance, and integration into the EU. Minister Vuković thanked World Bank representatives for continuous partner support.
He outlined the government's objectives to promote balanced and sustainable growth, invest in energy projects—including renewable energy sources—and implement reforms related to climate change and developing a green economy.
Minister Vuković noted that further investments in renewable energy sources and infrastructure would strengthen Montenegro's position as a regional energy hub and its leading place in Europe in the wind energy production share. The Minister emphasised the intensive work to expand Montenegro's economic and export base and enable additional FDI inflows, accelerating our integration.
In relation to cooperation with the World Bank, Minister Vuković emphasised the joint Revenue Administration Reform Project (RARP) in Montenegro, financed in the total amount of 18.8 million euros and being one of the most significant current projects in public finances improvement and reform. He announced this project would help reduce the non-observed economy and the budget deficit, raise citizens' awareness of the importance of accounting practices, and enhance controls over commercial transactions.
Governor Radović presented current banking sector ratios in Montenegro, confirming the system's stability and resilience. She thanked the World Bank representatives for their cooperation and noted that the technical assistance programs from the World Bank had significantly supported the CBCG in modernising payment systems and improving institutional capabilities. The newly adopted Partnership Framework envisages the continuation of cooperation in these and other areas, creating preconditions for further improving key segments of the financial system, which is highly important for Montenegro's economic development and integration into European flows, they assessed.
Additionally, the meeting with the World Bank Country Director for the Western Balkans, Ms Xiaoqing Yu, attended by the governors of the Western Balkans' central banks, discussed strategic initiatives for modernising payment systems. It focused on the steps towards implementing the SEPA payment system and developing a modern instant payments system - akin to a TIPS clone. Governor Radović highlighted the importance of implementing these innovative solutions to improve the payment system's efficiency and support economic development.
Finally, CBCG Governor Irena Radović attended the meeting organised by Mr Alfred Kammer, Director of the European Department at the IMF, which gathered central bank governors and finance ministers to discuss regional economic perspectives and challenges for the upcoming period.