Honourable Minister Shala,
Honourable Chairman of the CBK Board, Mr Mrasori,
Honourable Deputy Governor,
Representatives of Financial Institutions,
Honourable participants, ladies and gentlemen,
I am pleased that today we are all together marking the World Consumer Rights
Day, which is now transformed into an annual activity for the Central Bank of the
Republic of Kosovo. The special feature of today's organization is that this is
happening within the activities of marking the 20th anniversary of the
establishment of CBK, so we are in a good moment to reflect on the development
of Kosovo's financial system over these 20 years and our orientation for the
development of this sector in the future.
Kosovo started developing the financial system in 1999, at a time when everything
had to be developed from the outset. The first years of CBK's operation were
mainly related to the construction of the basic infrastructure necessary for the
functioning of the financial system, starting from the regulatory and supervisory
framework, the payment system and so on. Over time, together with the highly
valued support from our international partners, CBK managed to advance its
capacities at the same level with the central banks of countries with a longer
tradition of the financial system.
CBK went through different development stages, and so did the financial
institutions operating in Kosovo. The first years of their operation were quite
challenging, because they operated in an environment of high uncertainty and
significant lack of information. Nevertheless, the improvements made in the
financial infrastructure and in the overall business environment in Kosovo,
together with the growth of maturity of financial institutions and CBK during these
20 years, have resulted in a modern and sound financial system that is successfully
implementing its role of financial intermediation in support of the sustainable
development of the country's economy. Nowadays, our financial system is
generally characterized by steady growth of activity and a very satisfactory level of
financial health indicators.
Whereas, in the first years of operation of the financial system, the focus was on
creating the conditions for providing basic financial services for the country's
economy, now we have reached a level where more attention is given to the quality
of these services, where undoubtedly, activities aiming consumer protection of
financial services occupy a very important place. For us, consumer protection
activities represent a daily task that we exercise with the utmost seriousness, and
this day will be used as an opportunity to make a general reflection on these
activities.
Consumer protection is not a single action, but an entire process that promotes
responsible behaviour of financial institutions by incorporating various aspects
that, besides protecting the respect of contractual customer rights, also help
customers in selecting adequate financial products and contribute to maintaining
the solvency of customers.
Therefore, given the importance and complexity of consumer protection, CBK has
organized consumer protection activities in two main pillars, consisting of
consumer complaints and financial education.
By reviewing complaints, CBK intends to ensure the implementation of all
contractual rights and obligations between financial institutions and customers, in
cases where customers consider that such a thing has never happened. In recent
years, the number of financial institutions' customers lodging a complaint to CBK
regarding the implementation of their contractual rights has increased. We consider
that the increase of the number of complaints directly reflects the higher awareness
of customers about the right and the possibility of complaining, which is
contributing to the better protection of their rights, but it is also contributing to the
rectifying and advancement of internal processes in financial institutions in
providing and further developing financial services as well as avoiding various
errors. Consumer complaints represent a very important source of information for
CBK, which often takes them into account during the supervisory activities of
financial institutions.
In addition to activities to address possible violations by financial institutions in
relation to consumer rights, CBK is working intensively on financial education of
the public, which aims to increase the level of public knowledge about financial
products and their rights in relation to the financial institution. Also, in addition to
its activities in promoting financial education, CBK continuously encourages
financial institutions to increase their activity in support of increasing public
knowledge about financial products, as well-informed customers take reasonable
action and contribute directly to further development and maintenance of financial
stability.
CBK also gives its contribution to consumer protection as a member of the
Consumer Protection Council, an inter-institutional body that aims to provide a
harmonized and comprehensive approach to ensure consumer rights protection in
Kosovo. The establishment and functionalization of this council indicates the
orientation of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, which have put consumer
protection at the top of their priorities.
At the conclusion of my speech, I would like to emphasize our commitment in
ensuring a financial system to the country's economy, which contributes in the best
way possible to the economic development of the country and, at the same time,
conducts the financial intermediation activity while respecting all legal and
regulatory provisions.