Regional Summit of Finance Ministers, Governors and Tax Administration Directors Begins

14/06/2019

Regional Summit of the Finance Ministers, Governors and Tax Administration Directors, organised by the Serbian Association of Economists with the weekly NIN, as the main media partner, began in Bečići today. Institutional sponsors of the Summit include the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance and the Tax Administration of Montenegro.

The Summit, with this year’s topic "Financial and monetary stability of the region in conditions of slower economic growth in the euro area” was opened by Mr Aleksandar Vlahović, the President of the Serbian Association of Economists and Mr Radoje Žugić, Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro. 

Mr Aleksandar Vlahović pointed out that all the economies of the region are highly dependent on the events in the euro area and that, in order to reduce exposure to possible negative effects, it is necessary to decisively and strongly implement structural reforms, strengthen competitiveness and create a larger fiscal space through further public debt reduction and rationalization of public spending. 

"Fiscal sustainability, with financial stability, is a key prerequisite for macroeconomic stability," said Governor Žugić in his introductory speech, adding that preventive action is the basis for creating and preserving a safe, sound and stable banking system. To this end, the CBCG has been focused on strengthening supervisory capacities, improving payment systems and activities aimed at preventing money laundering, as well as financial education and inclusion.

As the Summit continued, the governors’ panel titled "Monetary policy and stability of the banking systems in the conditions of low inflation and interest rates" was held. The governors and other representatives of the regional central banks discussed, inter alia, the challenges of monetary policies, economic trends in the region, and the banking sector indicators in individual countries. There are positive trends in the regional countries in terms of continuous decline in interest rates and non-performing loans, while banking systems are characterized by high liquidity, solvency and profitability.

The panellists agreed in the assessment that there is a functional and institutional interdependence between monetary and fiscal policy, and that the dynamism of economic growth is possible only through the simultaneous implementation and synchronised action of these policies. 

The panel titled "Building trust through innovation and safety. What's new in digital payments?" will be held in the second part of the day.

The panels of the finance ministers and the tax administration directors will be held tomorrow, on the second day of the Summit.