13/01/2016

The Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo, Bedri Hamza hosted today in a meeting His Excellency, the Ambassador of the United States, Greg Delawie, associated by the USAID Director, James Hope and Director of USAID's Economic Growth Office, Scott Cameron. At the meeting, he thanked the Ambassador Delawie for the ongoing support of the US Government to the CBK, convinced that this cooperation will continue in the future. The Governor Hamza informed Ambassador Delawie on the developments in the financial sector in general and the banking sector in particular. Governor Hamza stated that the financial sector in Kosovo continues to be stable, liquid, well capitalized and with positive developments. Hamza informed the Ambassador Delawie on the banking system data for 2015, noting that in the past year banks marked a very positive trend with positive growth in lending and deposits, as well as a low level of non-performing loans. This has made possible for banks to increase their engagement in crediting of real sector of economy, significantly reducing loan interest rates comparing to previous years. In addition, Governor Hamza claimed that these positive developments in the financial sector had a significant impact on the growth of the country's economic development. Regarding institutional engagements, Hamza emphasized that CBK has managed to successfully fulfill all criteria set in the Stand-by Agreement with the IMF, even before the deadline. This way, the CBK contributed its share in the context of meeting the obligations arising from this agreement.

On his part, Ambassador Delawie appreciated the commitment of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo to regulate the financial sector and emphasized that the United States will deepen the cooperation and will continue to support the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo in various fields that help the advancement of its functions.