radovan jelasic : social responsibility in serbia and the un “ global compact ” initiative speech by mr radovan jelasic, governor of the national bank of serbia, at the launch of the united nations global compact initiative ( ungc ) in serbia, belgrade, 6 december 2007. * * * ladies and gentlemen, when did you last visit a hospital that cares for children with mental health disorders? where did you throw the glass bottle after you drank your juice yesterday? is the building you live in accessible to physically handicapped people? have you ever been to the area where roma people live under the gazela bridge? and, at risk of sounding sarcastic, have you convinced yourself again today that all problems in this country should be dealt with by the government and that you have the right to criticize that same government to your heart ’ s desire? do you think that you as an ordinary citizen have some kind of responsibility for all those events taking place outside your micro cosmos? when was the last time you walked down knez mihajlova street looking up to read the names of legacy donors and asked yourself how we compare to them? have you shaken hands, opened the door, smiled or simply been nice to anybody today? what will our country look like in five or ten years time depends only on us and nobody else. if anyone should make our country more beautiful, it should be us, you and me, and we do not and can not have any excuse not to do something. you and i are those who not only have the opportunity but an obligation as well. we have the good will, and as company managers, some money on our hands too. so “ let serbia rise ” as dositej said, but not against somebody or something, but for a more beautiful, smiling and, above all else, happier serbia. if you are an enterprise that feels the need to do something more than just pay taxes regularly, which is of course necessary but not enough, then you are in the right place today! we have gathered here today to meet and to get to know one another, to unite people and companies who care, who know how and are willing to do more to better not only their own lives, but also the lives of all the people in our country. as a start, a big step forward will have been made if we who have gathered here today were to unite as people of good will who feel the need to do something more, something better, and

bojan markovic : macroeconomic developments in serbia speech by mr bojan markovic, vice governor of the national bank of serbia, at the presentation of the november 2011 inflation report, belgrade, 16 november 2011. * * * ladies and gentlemen, esteemed members of the press and fellow economists, despite repeated media announcements about the “ waves of price hikes ”, inflation continued down over the past several months and settled at 8. 7 % in october. we expect this downward trend to persist and inflation to retreat within the target tolerance band in the first quarter of 2012. at the same time, pessimism over global growth prospects intensified, particularly in the euro area prompting us to revise the economic growth forecast for serbia down to around 2. 0 % in 2011 and 1. 5 % in 2012. in response to subsiding inflationary pressures, the national bank of serbia cut the key policy rate during the last six months. the key policy rate currently stands at 10 %, and its further cautious lowering is likely in the coming period. chart 1 inflation projection ( y - o - y rates, in % ) chart 2 gdp growth projection ( y - o - y rates, in % ) - 2 - 4 12 3 12 3 12 3 12 3 iii iv i ii iii iv i ii iii iv i ii iii iv i ii iv today we will present in more detail our view of past macroeconomic developments and our expectations for the period ahead. * * * mounting doubts about the sustainability of public debt in advanced economies and unfavourable growth indicators for the second and third quarters have led to a downward revision of the global economy growth forecasts, particularly that of the euro area. the third quarter witnessed a drop in share prices and a rise in interest rates on public debt in a number of countries. the prices of primary commodities, such as oil, base metals and agricultural products, also declined in the third quarter. though financial markets showed some recovery in october, global economic growth will no doubt be slower than expected until recently. also, the governments might not be able to respond with fiscal stimuli as they did during the first wave of the crisis, primarily due to high public debt. turbulences in the global financial market led to an increase in serbia ’ s risk premium ( measured by embi ), albeit smaller than those of other countries in the region. as a result, the dinar was more stable during this period than the currencies of other east european countries with flexible