policy rates, with the intensity and pace of the response more pronounced in countries where both domestic demand and labour market conditions had an inflationary impact. did the reaction of serbian authorities come too late? it did not. on the contrary, we were among the first to start with gradual monetary policy tightening, already in october 2021. we did this first by increasing the executive repo rate, a model enabled bychanges to the monetary framework from december 2012. at the time, this brought great savings to the citizens, companies and government. since then, we have adjusted monetary conditions more frequently, and in - between nbs executive board meetings, and this provided us with flexibility in monetary policy conduct which is particularly important amid instability in the global financial market. further, as of april last year conditions have been tightened with continuous increases in the key policy rate, which we raised from 1 % to 5. 5 % by february this year. the decision - making acknowledged the fact that inflation in serbia is largely imported and driven by supply - side factors. our gradual response honoured both the goals for financial stability and economic growth in the current conditions, with awareness that inflationary pressures cannot be resolved over a short period of time, without producing greater macroeconomic disturbances. at the same time, we used macroprudential policy measures to facilitate loan repayment for bank clients in financial distress. numerous measures of the serbian government also alleviated the impact of costpust pressures from the international environment, both on citizens and companies. by capping the prices of basic foodstuffs, the government also protected the living standard. ( slide 8 ) the third topic i will address is the resilience of the serbian economy during the pandemic, which is the central topic of the forum. relevant international institutions with an insight in the results of economic policies of all countries estimated that serbia's response to the global crisis was excellent. during the pandemic, we returned to the pre - crisis level of gdp after only three quarters, while it took as long as four and a half years to do the same after the 2008 crisis. the preserved relative stability of the dinar against the euro even amid pronounced global uncertainty was an important brake to a greater pass - through effect from rising global prices on domestic prices. the preserved relative stability of the dinar against the euro is also one of the key pillars of financial stability, business certainty, as well as investment and consumer confidence. 4 / 8 bis - central bankers'speeches

the strongest impact of energy imports worth eur 6. 8 bn, up by eur 3. 9 bn from 2021. f this, the imports of oil, petroleum products and gas were higher by eur 2. 5 bn, with the dominant effect originating from higher prices of these energy products. according to our estimate, this effect equalled around 84 %, while the growth in imported quantities of these energy products accounted for around 16 % of import growth. we expect the current account deficit to gradually narrow to around 5 % of gdp in the medium run, mostly on account of improvement of the foreign trade deficit, which we expect as export supply picks up and external demand recovers. the consolidated fiscal deficit of 3. 1 % of gdp in 2022 was better than forecast in the revised fiscal strategy for 2023 with projections for 2024 and 2025. the planned narrowing of the fiscal deficit to below 1. 5 % of gdp over the coming three years and a reduction in the public debt share in gdp to significantly below 60 % will also remain an important pillar of our economy's resilience. equally important is retaining the high level of capital expenditure, with significant mediumterm effects on our economy. ladies and gentlemen, ( slide 10 ) once this entire period of intertwined crises becomes a subject of analysis after some time, the decisions we made will be reviewed and perhaps new theories will spring up. still, as schumpeter said : i know that it is not enough to be remembered for books and theories. one does not make a difference unless it is a difference in people's lives. i will add the following – what differentiates theory from practice is our responsibility for people, for growth and development, and social stability. we depend on the conditions of the time in which we live, but also on the decisions that we make and for which we are accountable. we cannot influence global developments. we cannot influence energy prices in the global market, except in the segment where we have favourable agreements ensured by president vui. let me remind you that serbia ensured almost two thirds of gas under the conditions that were significantly more favourable than those prevailing in the market in 2022. preparations for the winter season in serbia were carried out in time and back in summer we filled gas storages in banatski dvor and hungary. such timely energy purchases set an example for all other participants in the economic system. the national bank of serbia has an anchor called a stable exchange rate –