Zeljko Jović: Overview of recent monetary and macroeconomic trends in Serbia

Opening remarks by Dr Zeljko Jović, Vice-Governor of the National Bank of Serbia, at the presentation of the Inflation Report - August 2019, Belgrade, 14 August 2019.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed members of the press, dear colleagues,

Welcome to the presentation of the August Inflation Report, where colleagues from the Economic Research and Statistics Department will present to you in detail the current macroeconomic trends and our latest projections.

In my introductory address I will touch on the key macroeconomic conditions in which monetary policy was implemented and on the decisions the National Bank of Serbia has made in the period since our previous Report. First of all, I would like to say that favourable macroeconomic trends continued into 2019 - inflation is low and stable, macroeconomic and financial stability has been preserved, and the costs of financing have stayed low, feeding through into higher economic and investment activity. Over the past six years inflation has been low and stable, at around 2%, and is expected to remain so in 2019 and 2020. Financial stability has been maintained and the issue of inherited non-performing loans resolved in a sustainable way - their level has been reduced by more than 70% over the last four years and their share in total loans cut to 5.2%.