Pursuant to Article 17, Paragraph 1, Item 1 of the Law on the Central Bank of Montenegro (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro”, No. 52/00 and 47/01), the Council of the Central Bank of Montenegro at its meeting held on 27 December 2006 the following

THE CENTRAL BANK POLICY FOR 2007

Following on from achievements in the development of the banking system, financial stability, and the implementation of international standards, the Central Bank of Montenegro shall endeavour to achieve the following objectives in 2007:

1.      maintain banking sector stability and gradually implement Basel II principles and standards with a view to further improving risk management in the Montenegrin banking system and market discipline;

2.      continuously monitor, analyze and study the situation in the financial and overall economic system for the purpose of proposing efficient measures for financial stability maintenance and proposing recommendations for fostering economic growth;

3.      maintain an efficient and sound domestic payment system and strive for its further development;

4.      pursue an active reserve requirement policy aimed at controlling the credit expansion and affecting banking system liquidity;

5.      further improve the quality of the existing services, establish and assume new functions of banker, advisor and fiscal representative of bodies and agencies of the Republic of Montenegro, as well as improve monetary reserves management;

6.      improve the cooperation with international financial institutions and organisations, and other central banks;

7.      improve the staffing and technical equipping of the Central Bank on an ongoing basis;

8.      perform an analysis of public opinion and raise public awareness of Central Bank activities and its affirmation as an independent institution dedicated to the development of the economy and the society.

1. With a view to maintaining banking sector stability and gradually implementing Basel II principles and standards aimed at further improvements in risk management in the Montenegrin banking system and market discipline, the Central Bank shall direct its activities particularly towards:  

a)     improving the institutional regulatory framework by preparing a draft proposal of a new Law on Banks and pertinent enabling regulations with a view to providing the legal assumptions for expanding the banking market, improving and developing solutions for bank regulations and supervision, and creating the legal framework for a gradual transition to Basel II;

b)     an ongoing development of the monitoring and assessing of risks that banks are exposed to in their business operations, with a reorganisation of the Bank Supervision Department;

c)      a further improvement in market discipline through an exchange and the publishing of information on banks` operations with a view to strengthening risk management and intensifying the implementation of the market discipline principle;

d)     bank licensing and issuance of permissions and approvals in the function of strengthening corporate culture, competition and preventive protection of depositors, focusing on business reputation and quality of potential bank shareholders;

e)     further strengthening of corporate management, the system of internal controls, and internal auditing of banks.

2. In order to continuously monitor, analyze and study the situation in the financial and overall economic system for the purpose of proposing efficient measures for the financial stability maintenance and advocating recommendations for fostering economic growth, the Central Bank shall:

1. take an active part in and support strategic development programs and measures of economic and other policies that will contribute to an improvement in the living standard of Montenegrin citizens and bring Montenegro closer to the European Union and Euroatlantic integrations;

2. monitor macroeconomic developments in the Republic, collect all relevant statistical data, and perform regular economic and econometric analyses in the monetary, financial, fiscal, and real sector, as well as international economic relations;

3. especially analyse the prospects of sustaining macroeconomic stability, meeting the Maastricht Criteria, and creating a stimulating business-friendly environment;

4. monitor the developments in the Montenegro`s balance of payments and propose corrective measures, as needed pursuant to the responsibilities set out in the Law on Current and Capital Transactions,;

5. monitor and analyse international experiences with a view to analysing the possibilities and the efficiency of implementing economic and monetary policy measures, especially the experiences of Southeast European countries that have successfully completed the process of joining the European Union, as well as the experiences of dollarised countries;

6. analyse the effects of the current instruments of monetary and economic policy, as well as development opportunities and the implementation of new instruments under euroisation conditions by using a macroeconomic model for Montenegro and preparing empirical studies;

7. take part in the preparation of new and amendments of the current regulations with a view to improving the existing, and creating a stimulating, business environment in order to attract new investments;

8. work on the improvement of the existing, and introducing new, reporting frameworks, primarily the Financial Stability Report;

9. organise the collection of data in order to create and publish monetary and balance of payments statistics;

10. Observe and point out the weaknesses in the existing statistical, methodological, and institutional basis of economic policy, and give recommendations for their elimination.

3. In order to maintain an efficient and sound domestic payment system and its further development, the Central Bank shall work on

a.      rounding off the regulatory framework for the new payment system by preparing a Draft Law on Domestic Payment Operations and the pertinent enabling regulations;

b.      an ongoing improvement of stability and efficiency of the interbank payment system, as well as its further development in accordance with the recommendations of the relevant international organisations, primarily the FSAP program of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and good practices. Here, the Central Bank shall focus on the maintenance of the existing, and upgrading the level of security of the interbank payment system and the basic infrastructure of the domestic payment system. This will diminish operational risk, which is characteristic of payment systems, and reduce it to the lowest possible level;

c.      the development of a project to develop a national clearing centre for payment cards;

d.      the development and implementation of a new information system for enforced collection that will provide further functional improvements, a high level of automation, and the maximum stability and efficiency in its performance;

e.      efficient performance of domestic payment operations for the clients of the Central Bank.

4. With a view to further improving the institutional and other prerequisites for the monitoring of banking system liquidity and managing the foreign exchange reserves of the Republic, the Central Bank shall: 

a.      perform an ongoing analysis and improve the existing reserve requirement policy, followed by a gradual harmonisation with reserve requirement recommendations and standards applied in the Eurozone;

b.      monitor and analyse international experiences with a view to amending the regulations prescribing the type and the level of loans for daily liquidity maintenance, the collateral, interest rates, and other conditions under which the Central Bank grants loans to banks;

c.      manage the foreign exchange reserves of the Republic, both in the country and abroad, observing the principles of safety, liquidity, and profitability;

d.      work on the introduction of new instruments and techniques for the more efficient managing of foreign exchange reserves;

e.      additionally improve risk management techniques related to investing foreign exchange reserves;

f.        improve payment operations with abroad;

g.      supply the required amounts and denomination structure of euro banknotes and coins for banks and financial institutions.

5. With a view to continuously improving the quality of the existing services, establishing and assuming the new functions of banker, advisor and fiscal representative of bodies and organisations of the Republic of Montenegro, the Central Bank shall

a.    efficiently monitor, transfer, and calculate interest rates on funds of the Budget, the Deposit Protection Fund, and other agencies and organisations of the Republic deposited with the Central Bank;

b.   perform appropriate transactions resulting from relations with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other international financial institutions; 

c.  perform auctions of Treasury bills of the Republic of Montenegro and consistently improve their methods and techniques;

d.      offer its support to all measures and activities contributing to a further decline in the fiscal deficit;

e.      ensure an efficient payment operations with abroad for the purposes of the Republic agencies and organisations;

f.     work on the improvement of the existing, and the establishing of new, correspondent relations with foreign banks and banking institutions, and on improving monetary assets management.

6. With regard to improved cooperation with international financial institutions and organisations, and other central banks, and taking into account the expected full membership of the Republic of Montenegro in the aforesaid institutions, by performing its function as the fiscal agent and depository and through cooperation with other international financial institutions, the Central Bank shall: 

1. improve cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by performing the function of fiscal agent of the Republic of Montenegro with the IMF, carrying out all operations and transactions with the IMF in the name of the Republic of Montenegro, performing the depository function for the IMF funds, and the function of the Governor in the IMF;
2. further improve cooperation with the International Monetary Fund by fulfilling the obligations within its authority as the condition for the utilization of the financial support of the IMF;
3. develop cooperation with the International Monetary Fund through the preparation of opinions and standpoints on future programs of mutual cooperation and the participation of the Central Bank of Montenegro Governor in the Annual Meetings of the IMF Board of Governors;
4. cooperate with the World Bank by performing the function of depository of monetary assets of all World Bank agencies and through the fulfilment of obligations as the condition for the utilization of the financial support of the World Bank within the current arrangements;
5. take an active part in the EU association process pursuant to its authority by developing cooperation with the European Commission and initiating new forms of cooperation with EU bodies, primarily the European Central Bank;
6. improve and initiate cooperation with other international financial and other organisations of interest for the Central Bank through the establishment of direct contacts, gathering information and monitoring activities of the aforesaid organisations, participating in the activities of the working bodies and assemblies, and organising international conferences;
7. develop cooperation with other central banks by improving on that already established through the collection of information, monitoring and improving the implementation of reached agreements and proposing new forms of cooperation, as well as by initiating cooperation with other central banks;
8. undertake all other activities that will lead to further international recognition of the Central Bank.

 7. With regard to human resources management, the Central Bank shall continue with its practise of employing professional, motivated, adequately rewarded human capital capable of handling continuous changes on the way towards European integration. The managing of human capital shall be based on the following postulates: 

a.      Development of the system of motivation and professional advancement of its employees;

b.      further professional training, education, and development of the competences required for Central Bank operations, with special emphasis put on the development of talent and managers;

c.      the recruitment of the best young professionals;

d.      rewarding in accordance with employee performance;

e.      the implementation of projects related to acquiring knowledge regarding European integration and the implementation of international business standards;

f.        the improvement of the technical equipping of the Central Bank for the performance of the core functions.

8. The Central Bank of Montenegro`s independence imposes an obligation for its policy to be in line with the highest standards of transparency. In order to raise the level of informing the public about the activities and the role of the Central Bank, and analyse the viewpoints of the public, the Central Bank shall: 

a.   further improve communication, both within the Central Bank and with the public – partners, citizens, the Central Bank employees, domestic and international media, and any other interested groups;

b.      inform the public about the regular activities of the Central Bank and promote financial system stability;

c.   educate the public about the function and the role of the Central Bank and raise the level of public awareness of the economy thus contributing to the national debate on economic policy that should give rise to a better perception of the public of the importance of financial stability and fiscal discipline;

d.      regularly update and improve its website that should contain all relevant, precise, and timely information.

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In accordance with the expected new Law on the Central Bank of Montenegro to be enacted in 2007, the Central Bank focus shall be the adjustment of its activities pursuant to the new Law, i.e. the best international practise that it is based on.

THE CENTRAL BANK OF MONTENEGRO COUNCIL