Financial Plan and Strategic Plan of the CBBH for 2003 Adopted

The Governing Board of the CBBH held its first meeting for 2003 in Sarajevo yesterday, during which it adopted the CBBH's Strategic Plan and Financial Plan for 2003.

The Strategic plan sets out the key principles that will determine the work of the CBBH. The main one is that the compliance with all the legal requirements relating to the Currency Board that are set out in the CBBH Law must continue to be the top priority for the CBBH. The Board was also given the preliminary financial results for the CBBH's operations in 2002. The financial accounts are still undergoing external audit and will be published once that audit is completed, which will be in March.

The Board approved an updated set of investment guidelines for the management of the CBBH's foreign reserves. Most of the income of the CBBH comes from the interest the CBBH earns on these foreign reserves. The guidelines set strict criteria for limiting the amount of risk the CBBH can take in investing in foreign assets. The aim of the Investment Committee of the CBBH is to generate as much income as possible from the foreign reserves. But they must operate within the risk guidelines set by the Governing Board at all times.

The Board also approved the request of the Council of Ministers for the CBBH to implement and fund their decision to obtain an international credit rating for BiH.

All four Board members, Peter Nicholl, Manojlo Ćorić, Kasim Omićević and Jure Pelivan attended.