Tuesday, 1 August 2017

26th Sitting of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending

At the sitting held on 1 August, the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending discussed a number of reports, plans and activity programmes of the National Bank of Serbia for the period 2015 – 2017.


The Committee members unanimously accepted the proposal of Committee Chairperson Dr Aleksandra Tomic to complete a joint single debate on all the items on the agenda, viz.: National Bank of Serbia 2015 Financial Report accompanied by an authorized auditor’s report, Annual Report on business transactions and results achieved in 2015, 2015 Annual Monetary Policy Report, Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report for the period January - June 2016, 2015 Annual Financial System Stability Report, National Bank of Serbia Governor’s Council Activity Report for the period 1 January - 30 June 2016, National Bank of Serbia 2017 Financial Plan, 2016 financial reports accompanied by an authorized auditor’s report, National Bank of Serbia Governor’s Council Activity Report for the period 1 July - 31 December 2016, 2016 Annual Monetary Policy Report, Annual Report on business transactions and results achieved in 2016 and the 2016 Annual Financial System Stability Report.

All the reports, plans and activity programmes submitted by the National Bank of Serbia and the National Bank of Serbia Governor’s Council were presented by the Governor of the National Bank of Serbia Dr Jorgovanka Tabakovic, who said that the NBS had fulfilled all of its legal duties and maintained price and financial stability in the last two years. The 12.9% inflation of October 2012 has been reduced to 2.2% in October 2013 and is today, four years later, low and stable, Tabakovic concluded. Price growth in the last two years is 1.2 percentage points, the hyperinflation burden has been reduced and according to rating agencies the NBS has earned credibility, the Governor added. Inflation expectations are such that the inflation is low and goes up to 3%, +/-1 at the medium term. The last two years also confirm the credibility of monetary policy pursued, and based on the conducted and planned NBS activities the prices are expected to remain stable in the long term, Tabakovic opined. She added that Serbia is in the group of countries with low and predictable inflation. The successful cooperation of monetary and fiscal policy has contributed to the reduction of the fiscal deficit from 6.6% in 2014 to 1.3% in 2016, and the benchmark interest rate has dropped by over 300 points between May 2013 and December 2014. The rate of allocations for mandatory foreign exchange reserves has also dropped, and the interest rate for RSD loans for the citizens and the economy has dropped by 11.2 percentage points from 2012 to 2017. The cost of the state’s RSD loans has also dropped which helps reduce proportion of public debt share in the GDP, the risk premium was reduced and the country’s credit rating improved, said the NBS Governor. She said that increased savings, especially in RSD, with investment and export, contribute to GDP growth. The previous period saw an increased interest in loans, and the positive trends contributed to loan activity rising by 5% in 2016. Net foreign exchange reserves are stable at 8.4 billion EUR, and financial institutions have realized a 46.5 billion RSD income, and the banking sector is well-capitalized, said Tabakovic. She said that the liquidity of the banking sector is high and the NBS and the Government have adopted a strategy to handle problematic loans reducing their share by 4.6 percentage points making it 17% in 2015 and hitting the lowest 16.1% in May 2017. She said that Serbia’s financial system is exceptionally stable and the banking sector is resilient. In 2015 NBS analysed the assets of 14 banks and recorded that they do not lack capital. The Governor also spoke of the five reform laws which had improved the environment in Serbia. Concluding her presentation of the reports, plans and activity programmes for the period 2015 – 2017 she said that political stability and dedication to reform haveensured the success of the arrangement with IMF, and by achieving price and financial stability the NBS will best contribute to GDP growth which has reached 2.8% last year.

Following a long debate the Committee members accepted, by majority vote, all 13 of the reports, plans and activity programmes submitted by the National Bank of Serbia and the National Bank of Serbia Governor’s Council.

The sitting was attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Olivera Pesic, Goran Kovacevic, Vojislav Vujic, Momo Colakovic, Veroljub Arsic, Zoltan Pek, Zoran Krasic, Goran Ciric, Dr Milorad Mijatovic, Srbislav Filipovic, Dusan Bajatovic, Zoran Bojanic and Zika Gojkovic.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Dr Aleksandra Tomic.


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friday, 29 march
  • 9.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

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