Summit of National Bank Governors, Finance Ministers and Tax Administration Directors of the Region Opens in Budva
16/06/2017
The Central Bank of Montenegro Governor, Mr Radoje Žugić, PhD, opened the Summit of national bank governors, finance ministers and tax administration directors of the region in Budva today, organised by the Belgrade’s weekly NIN, under the institutional auspices of the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro.
This year’s summit topic “Regional Financial Stability in the New Global Environment” gathered the governors, ministers of finance and tax administration directors of the region as well as a number of experts in monetary and fiscal policy, alongside a significant number of corporate sector representatives.
In its panel presentation called “Monetary Policy in Regional Countries – Between the U.S. Federal Reserves and European Central Bank” the Governor Žugić gave an overview on the environment in which regional countries create and lead their fiscal and monetary policies, influenced by the U.S. Federal Reserves and European Central Bank policies as well as by a number of internal and external factors. Due to slight increase in interest rates on a global level that may have future impact on the borrowing price in our countries, it is necessary to take measures with the aim of stabilizing public finances and strengthening the real economy. “The role of central banks in this cycle is to preserve financial stability, trigger credit activity and strengthen regulatory framework in order to lower both risk premium and interest rates, inciting credit support to corporate sector and “unlock” the growth potential, emphasized the Governor Žugić.
Mr Aleksandar Vlahović, President of the Serbian Association of Economists also addressed the audience. Mr Vlahović mentioned these gatherings were very important for further strengthening of the regional cooperation which is needed, for the fact that all countries in the region are interconnected. “In order to recover the key economic issues the region is currently facing, coordination between monetary and fiscal policy is needed. Namely, monetary policy must be in line with the fiscal one, on one hand, while the fiscal policy must have the efficient monetary policy by its side on the other” mentioned Mr Vlahović.
The governors also discussed both economic trends in the region and banking sector indicators in individual countries, presenting and exchanging views on resolving the issue of non-performing loans as a prerequisite for increasing credit activity in banks.
The panel “Financial Inclusion – Global Challenge, Local Solutions” will be held in the second part of the day, starting at 12:30 hours. Representatives of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Regional Cooperation Council will take part in the discussion.
Ministers of finance and tax administration directors’ panels will be held the next day, on Saturday 17 June.
The purpose of the summit, traditionally organized by the weekly NIN sixth year in a row was to develop dialogue and improve cooperation between regional financial institutions.