Governor Mehmeti agrees with the World Bank for implementing projects to increase access to finance

The Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo, Fehmi Mehmeti, met today senior World Bank officials who are visiting Kosovo for the purpose of agreeing on concrete projects that will help increase the private sector’s access to finance. Projects that were agreed with Governor Mehmeti are related to the advancement of the legal framework on the payment system, the feasibility study for identifying the financial gap, the advancement of financial education targeting remittances as a very important category of revenues in Kosovo. Also, Governor Mehmeti has congratulated the delegation for the advancement made in the project for increasing the funding for the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund and the commencement of the study to identify the challenges faced by small and medium enterprises.

Governor Mehmeti informed the officials of this institution about the state of the financial system and thanked the WB representatives for the continuous support they have given and are giving to the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo. On this occasion, Governor Mehmeti stated that the financial system in the Republic of Kosovo has undergone positive developments, marking an annual growth of 6.9%, while lending has marked an annual growth of 11%, interest rates on loans decreased to 6.3%, and the rate of non-performing loans dropped to 2.7%. Governor Mehmeti informed the WB representatives about the positive developments in other sectors, such as the insurance, pension, and non-bank financial and microfinance institutions. WB representatives, headed by Mario Guadamillas – Manager of the Pillar for Finance and Markets, thanked Governor Mehmeti for continued cooperation and praised the CBK for developmental initiatives in the view of private sector development, and discussed the ways of further increasing cooperation between the WB and the CBK.