Tabakovic meets new IMF resident representative: Serbia recording great macroeconomic progress

The governor of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS), Jorgovanka Tabakovic, pointed out today, during her meeting with the new resident representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Serbia, Lev Ratnovski, that the Republic of Serbia was an example of a country with sound economic policies, outstanding macroeconomic results and an excellent outlook for growth and development, the NBS announced.

Serbia was the second country to conclude the advisory Policy Coordination Instrument, in July 2018 for the first time and in June 2021 for the second.

At the height of the energy crisis, the current stand-by arrangement was concluded as part of the strategy of diversification, including diversification of sources of funding, the press release says. Tabakovic said that Serbia would continue to pursue policies encouraging high sustainable growth, employing all of its potentials.

She said that Serbia was now also recognized for its coordinated monetary and fiscal policies, which had almost become the trademark of the country, and that, at the same time, the NBS had both de jure and de facto autonomy in selecting the tools for implementing its policies, in order to achieve its objectives, clearly laid down in the Law on the National Bank of Serbia.

With regard to the current SEPA project which envisages, among other things, the adoption of the draft Law Amending the Law on Payment Services proposed by the NBS, the Governor pointed out that that project would enable faster, easier and cheaper payment transactions not only with EU countries but also with some countries of the region.

The NBS says in the press release that the Republic of Serbia is the only country of the region which has had the technical infrastructure for instant payments for almost six years – the NBS IPS payment system, which already applies the same standards for financial messages as in the SEPA area.

– Events from only a few days ago show how important it is for a country to have its payment system and its safeguard measures, in order to ensure uninterrupted access to payment accounts for its citizens. The NBS’s policy is not to wait for things to happen, but to tackle them in advance, and this is the approach we apply in all areas of our competence, particularly in the pursuit of monetary policy – the central bank points out.

Narodna banka Srbije Beograd

Međunarodni monetarni fond-MMF Beograd

National Bank of Serbia

NBS

International Monetary Fund

IMF

Lev Ratnovski

Jorgovanka Tabaković

SEPA project

Law on Payment Services