increasing by as much as 189 %. of course, we still have a long way to go to achieve a fully market - determined exchange rate, like for example switzerland, but we are on the right track and we are getting there fast! we need a ) a still deeper forex market, b ) buyers and sellers who engage in forward trade and have abandoned the " euro costs what it costs " principle, c ) exchange dealers who trade exclusively with banks. moreover, after the first two weeks this year when, as we had expected, demand for foreign currency went up substantially, the nbs intervened in the interbank foreign exchange market session on one day only. do we need another proof that the exchange rate is freely formed? last year's inflation of 6. 5 % in serbia matches the level achieved by its neighbours. to illustrate, by applying the foreign exchange regime of the currency board, bulgaria recorded 6. 5 % also, bosnia 6. 0 %, while hungary reached 6. 5 % and romania 4. 9 %. building on this, and primarily on the low inflation recorded in the final quarter of 2006, in 2007 the national bank of serbia will target the lower band of the 4 - 8 % core inflation corridor, set already in august 2006. let us now note the role of the monetary policy. last year was a key year for serbia, as it was finally recognized that monetary policy represents a significant and powerful tool whose importance cannot be overstated! this is a very important point to make, especially in serbia, where i can in all honesty say this is the first time a modern and proper monetary policy has been pursued! i find it quite normal and understandable that a person may come up to me in the streets of cacak, novi sad or belgrade and ask me why the national bank of serbia has only one objective and why this objective is “ to achieve and maintain price stability ” and not “ to achieve growth and development, higher employment rates, exports, etc, ” or why it is that the nbs needs to sterilize excess money and how it finances this sterilization. but when such questions are raised by “ economists ” and “ experts ” – well, that is a cause for much concern! i get the feeling that these people are trying to ignore a very valuable experience from the 1970s and 1980s. many experts seem to have slept through the past 20 years – but the economic science has been developing regardless! experiences from that time were well summarized

jorgovanka tabakovic : women ’ s leadership and sustainable development - truly equal speech by dr jorgovanka tabakovic, governor of the national bank of serbia, at the international conference “ women ’ s leadership and sustainable development – truly equal ”, belgrade, 2 october 2019. * * * the most profound mystery is that of human being. human being, man and woman. women are accused of impractical and dangerous sentimentality, but can we say that men are inherently realistic? immortal genes and the alternation of matriarchy and patriarchy – what does it all prove? the relativity of superiority and differences. a man can live without a woman, but without women, there is no future. women are still kept outside of certain areas and roles in society. this is the mirror of gender essentialism which is often a tool of ostracism. women are gaining ground in central banking and of this process i can speak confidently only from my own experience. there are women who have been loved three times in their life. first by their mothers, who delivered them to this world, then by their husbands whom they married, and lastly by the children they delivered. the same is true of men. and love is that sacred root of plants that exude strength and love – for everything they do, for everyone around them and for anything they may face. all who are born yearning to be loved, and raised with a lack of love, have a more difficult time succeeding in life, i think, i believe – because i can only speak with certainty about my own experience. i had the support of others but not because i was a woman, rather because i desired knowledge, i was open to learning, talking, committed to myself and to others. i didn ’ t seek the company of those who wanted to indulge me, but of those who were able to think and see far ahead, beyond their own pocket and their own lives. we should be aware that this world should not be a simple alternation of matriarchy and patriarchy but rather that we should support each other ’ s best characteristics while moving towards the holiest of goals. there are such riddles and challenges ahead of us that require various voices, different experiences and wisdom. we shouldn ’ t labour under the illusion that all women would give the same response to any particular question. we should therefore include more women in decision - making, because women are talented and dedicated, and want to