honoured, i am pleased to be here with you today to discuss and hear about a very important topic for our country's economy, and i would like to thank the american chamber of commerce for the invitation and to express my high considerations for businesses and their role in the country's economic development. i believe that the topic of this conference is very good because it comes at a time when the banking sector has made great progress in improving the conditions for sustainable financing of the economy, namely businesses. * * * kosovo's banking sector in recent years has considerably increased its role in financing the economic growth in the country, accelerating the loan growth rate, and significantly reducing loan interest rates. easing the lending standards and reducing the loan interest rates have served as important incentives for increasing loan demand, resulting in an annual loan growth of 11. 6 per cent in october this year. this indicates that access to finance, which has long been reported by businesses as one of the main barriers to their business development, is now undergoing continuous improvement. this can be noticed by the growth in lending to the sectors of the economy which in previous periods had a more limited access to banking financing. according to the latest data of october 2018, the loans granted by the banking sector to businesses are in the amount of eur 1. 7 billion which, compared with the same period of five years ago, has increased by 45 per cent. the lending structure by economic sectors has started to improve compared to the previous periods, although there is room for greater diversification of the loan portfolio in favour of the sectors that have the greatest potential to generate faqe 1 nga 5 economic growth. currently, about 50 per cent of total loans issued to enterprises are represented by loans to the trade sector. during this year, the agricultural sector and the manufacturing sector were among the sectors with the highest increase of loans received. however, the total amount of loans granted to these sectors continues to be low. the share of manufacturing sector in total loans to enterprises in october was 13 per cent, while loans to the agriculture sector accounted for about 4 per cent of total loans. since today's topic is related to the role of the banking sector in the country's economic development, i would like to emphasize the fact that the greatest support to these sectors of the economy, but also to the other sectors with the greatest potential to generate economic growth, is indispensable in order to have a more sustainable economic development. however, we are also aware

stability, the continuous growth of the position of liquidity and capitalism, considerably above the level required by the central bank, the fund's introduction and active participation in this sector have strongly influenced the continuation of significant increase and improvement of the aforementioned lending standards. the satisfactory stability of the banking sector is also reflected by the good quality of the loan portfolio. the low level of non - performing loans marked a further decline to 2. 6 % in march 2019. this represents the lowest level so far, and continues to list kosovo as the country with the lowest rate of non - performing loans in the region. despite the hitherto success, the fund will face challenges in achieving future objectives. the good quality of loans guaranteed by the fund, adequate operating tariff, effective risk management mechanisms, operational independence, and financial stability are essential for the functioning and development of the fund. these can be achieved by proper corporate governance which is integrated into the institutional framework of the fund. the board of directors and management shall ensure that such a framework is prudent and operates in accordance with the law and the best internationally accepted standards. it is very important for the fund to increase its activity since the fund's guarantee potential is much higher than what it is currently being utilized. the agreement between the european investment fund ( cosme programme ) and the fund enables the reguaranteeing of the portfolio up to eur 45 million for a two - year period to a credible institution such as the european investment fund which will have a positive impact on increasing access to financing for micro, small and medium - sized enterprises. these benefits would enable the fund to reduce the fee for loans re - guaranteed by the cosme programme. the cbk will continue to ensure the financial stability it currently enjoys. the role of banks in particular, and of other financial institutions in general, is very important and there is still room for this role to be further advanced in order to increase its impact on the development of kosovo's economy and further development of the banking system itself. above all, it is a collective obligation to contribute to the development of a financially stable kosovo credit guarantee fund so that it serves to the development of micro, small and medium - sized enterprises. finally, i would like to conclude my speech with praises on the excellent work done so far in the functioning of the fund, and looking forward to maximum inter - institutional engagement for advancing this fund so that it further increases financial intermediation in kosovo.