CBK Governor Ahmet Ismaili meets with Mr. Sebastian Sosa, Regional Resident Representative for the Western Balkans at the IMF in Vienna

During his official visit, the Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo (CBK), Mr. Ahmet Ismaili, met with Mr. Sebastian Sosa, Regional Resident Representative for the Western Balkans at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at the Fund’s Vienna office, which also covers the Republic of Kosovo. The discussions focused on strengthening cooperation between the two institutions, with particular emphasis on recent developments and ongoing reforms in Kosovo’s financial sector, including technical assistance in various areas within the CBK’s mandate.

Governor Ismaili presented the latest developments of the economy and the financial sector, with a focus on banking and insurance supervision, resolution mechanisms, macroprudential policy, payment infrastructure, digitalization of the financial sector, and other ongoing key reforms.

The discussions also addressed several key financial sector projects and regulatory initiatives supported by the IMF. These included the strengthening of the Supervision function of the CBK through alignment with international standards and approaches for assessing key risk elements within the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP), the implantation of the Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB) for all banks as part of amendments to the capital adequacy regulation, and progress on the regulatory framework for Crypto Assets following consultations with the IMF team.

Further, the agenda covered the advancement of the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) framework, the implementation of IMF Safeguards Assessment recommendations, including drafting of the suggested amendments to the Central Bank Law, and the latest project of the Central Bank Transparency Code (CBT), to be further elaborated during upcoming Annual Meetings.

The meeting also highlighted IMF technical assistance (TA) initiatives, including the latest project from the Institute for Capacity Development of the IMF on macroeconomic modelling and scenario design, the follow-up mission under the Financial Sector Stability Review (FSSR) on banking supervision and financial stability, as well as recent specialized technical assistance in risk management, cybersecurity, and the internal application of artificial intelligence.

Governor Ismaili expressed his gratitude to the IMF for its continuous support, underlining the critical role of technical assistance and capacity building in the successful implementation of these strategic projects. He emphasized that these reforms will significantly contribute to the resilience of Kosovo’s financial sector.

Mr. Sosa reaffirmed the IMF’s commitment to supporting the CBK in fulfilling its mandate, particularly in advancing financial sector reforms, and underlined the Fund’s readiness to continue providing technical assistance and capacity-building support.

Both parties agreed to maintain close cooperation and level of the transparency to ensure the successful implementation of ongoing reforms across the financial sector.