Governor of the CBBH Kemal Kozaric, Ph.D., attended the Regional Summit of Governors, Bankers and Businessmen in Belgrade

On November 8, 2013, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH) Governor, Kemal Kozarić, Ph.D., participated in the work of the Regional Summit of Governors, Bankers and Businessmen, held in Belgrade, organized by the National Bank of Serbia. Topic of the Summit was "Situation and the Future of the Financial System in the Region."

Turbulences affecting the global financial system, as well as changes in the organization of major banking institutions in Europe, put on the Agenda the question of whether and what consequences , the daughter banks in the Region will suffer , as well as  whether the economic systems will be affected by the new regulations and arrangements of the relations and will it be generally possible to count on return at the growth levels of the pre-crisis period. Especially important topic of the Summit was the support to the MSE (Middle and Small Enterprises) sector and lending to their business activities.

During the first part of the Summit, the Governors of the Central Banks in the Region, including Governor Kozarić, had presentations. Along with his presentation, entitled "Future Challenges for the Financial Sector in the Countries of the Region", the Governor commented the structure of the financial sector in BH , with a special focus on the banking sector, and he noted that this sector had used to be  featured by high rates of profitability, while now it has been featured by high rate of non-performing loans (NPLs) and a weak credit growth.  According to him, the next steps will have to be taken directly to  resolving the issue of the NPLs. The Governor pointed out that there has been evident and continued trend of reducing the banks' exposure in the Region.

Speaking about the main risks for the banking sector in BH and the Region, the Governor mentioned the possibility of spill-over effect coming from the home countries of the foreign banking groups and from the EU, and the pro-cyclicality of the financial crisis on other segments of the financial sector. The Governor emphasized home-host supervisory framework as essential in the prevention of the risk, and improving of corporate management in banks, with special emphasis on upgrading the relationships with customers. At the end of the presentation, Governor Kozarić assessed political stability in the Region and accelerating of the European and NATO  integrations as  very important, and once again he reminded that the economy must be the focus of authorities in order for  a standard of every individual to be  at as possible as higher level.

The presentations of other Governors confirmed that the banking sectors showed a high level of resilience to the crisis, while facing the same problems, such as being bank-centred and the NPLs high level, too.

During this part of the Summit, the other topics also were discussed: how much the crisis in the euro zone endangered the financial systems of the Region, how much the problems of the parent  banks - from the Euro zone have affected the operations of their daughter  banks in the countries of the Region and  how the actions of the European supervision authorities affected the liquidity and credit potential of the banks in the Region, etc.

Summit was hosted by the Governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Ms. Jorgovanka Tabaković, along with  CBBH Governor Kemal Kozarić, Ph.D., there were attending: Milojica Dakić, Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro, Boris Vujčić , Governor of the Croatian National Bank,  Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Central Bank of Albania, Maja Kadievska Vojnovik, Vice Governor of the National Bank of Macedonia, Veroljub Dugalić, Chairman of the Association of Serbian Banks, Predrag Radlovački , Head of Region, CITI Bank, Branislav Grujić, Chairman, PSP Farman, and other high level representatives of banks and financial institutions, international representatives and reputable businessmen.

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