Regular session of the National Bank Council
Today, the National Bank Council has held a regular session, at which the Strategic Plan and the Research Program of the central bank for the period 2020-2022 have been adopted.
The Strategic Plan for the next three-year period contains eleven strategic objectives which clearly reflect the commitment of the National Bank for maintaining low and stable inflation through the strategy of maintaining a stable exchange rate of the denar against the euro, as well as commitment for maintaining safe and sound banking system, which is the main prerequisite for financial, and thus macroeconomic stability and attaining sustainable economic growth of the country. Given the dynamic and volatile environment, the Strategic Plan elaborates the key challenges in the operations of the central bank, as well as the critical points of action in the next three years. Among other things, activities for development of payment services market are envisaged, pointing out as well the activities for providing quality statistical data, fully harmonized with the international and European statistical standards. The activities for preparation of the National Bank for joining and membership in the European System of Central Banks are covered in a separate strategic objective. The strategic objectives underlie the preparation of organizational unit plans and the Plan of Activities of the central bank for the next year.
The adopted Research Program for the period 2020-2022 aims to focus the National Bank research activity to areas important for the achievement of the primary objectives and tasks of the central banking operations in the country. The research in the next three-year period is expected to support the decision-making process, as well as contribute to better functioning of the National Bank and its readiness to face future challenges. The Program, inter alia, envisions projects in the area of monetary policy, interaction between the basic macroeconomic sectors, macroeconomic modeling, financial stability and other areas related to the operations of the National Bank. It emphasizes the importance of new statistics and the strengthening of existing statistical databases aimed to new profound research in the economy.
In order to further improve the commercial banks systems in the country pertaining to risk management, the Council adopted a new Decision on the risk management methodology, the implementation of which will start at the end of this year. When preparing the new Decision, the guidelines of the European Banking Authority on Banking Management, the Basel Standards and corporate governance principles and the recommendations of the FSAP mission conducted by the joint team of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were taken into account. The most significant novelties the Decision introduces refer to strengthening the requirements for efficient risk management, introducing an obligation for the banks to define and monitor the internal liquidity and strengthen the reporting requirements of the National Bank. At the session, it was emphasized that the introduced innovations are expected to additionally contribute to increasing the stability of the banking system, as well as the prudence in its operations.
At the session, the Council adopted a Decision amending the Decision on the rules for good corporate governance in a bank, as well as a Decision amending the Decision on issuing license and consent for performing money transfer.
The Council has also discussed other matters within its jurisdiction.