Governor Softić Attending the International Seminar on Banking Operations

At the invitation of the Central Bank of Montenegro, Governor of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH) Senad Softić, Ph.D. participates in the work of the international seminar on banking operations in the current macroeconomic conditions, which is held in Budva, Montenegro. This seminar, which is being held in co-organization of Central Banks of Montenegro and Slovenia and the Faculty of Economics from Ljubljana, attracted the most important stakeholders in the world of finance in the region and serves as a platform for the exchange of experiences between representatives of the banking industry, monetary authorities and the academic community. 

Governor Softić took part in the panel discussion entitled “Current Challenges for Monetary Policy and Financial Stability”, where with his fellow Governors and Vice Governors of the Central Banks of Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia tackled the ongoing challenges of monetary policy, especially in terms of the negative interest rates of the European Central Bank (ECB) and their impact on the economic developments of the regional countries being largely euroized. During the discussion, the deflation and the danger from recession were addressed, as well as the challenges to preserve the financial stability and the future directions of monetary policy. 

During the presentation, Governor Softić said that, despite the challenging environment, the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded the positive trends, as evidenced by the increase in the GDP during the first quarter of this year, being 2.1%, and industrial production growth rate of 4% in the first six months of the year. “It is also important to mention that there was a decrease in non-performing loans (NPL) in BH banks from 13.7%, as recorded at the end of 2015, to 12.1%, being the figure for the first six months of this year”, said Governor Softić, adding that one of the encouraging indicators is also the coverage of imports by exports of 58% in the period January-August, 2016, being the highest percentage so far. 

The Governor also talked about approved three years Extended Arrangement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and International Monetary Fund (IMF), where he especially emphasized the provisions related to maintainance of the financial stability in the country and the increase of the banks credit activities. 

Along with the panel discussions on the topic of monetary policy, this year's seminar tackled the current issues, such as the impact of the EU Banking Union, with a particular focus on the effects of unified supervision of EU banks, then the management of NPL's and creation of future business strategies of banks at low interest rates and high liquidity.