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

fehmi mehmeti : the financial sector is liquid and supports the economy in kosovo speech by mr fehmi mehmeti, governor of the central bank of the republic of kosovo, at the conference with the head of the imf mission for kosovo, mr gabriel di bella, pristina, 4 november 2022. * * * dear di bella - head of the imf mission for kosovo dear media first of all, allow me to thank the international monetary fund for the continuous support it has provided to kosovo, and in particular to the central bank of the republic of kosovo, in carrying out its duties in maintaining and preserving a stable and continuously growing financial system. during the meetings held with representatives of the international monetary fund, we informed them about the latest developments and data of the financial system in kosovo. the financial system in kosovo has continued to be liquid and well capitalized, where double - digit growth has been recorded in all indicators being one of the important factors in the economic growth and development of the country. in total, the means of the financial system in the country, on 31 august, 2022, have reached the total value of 9. 3 billion euros, with an annual increase of 10 percent. in the meantime, the means of the banking sector have continued the growth trend even during 2022, reaching the value of around 6. 4 billion euros in august 2022, which represents an annual increase of 11. 1 percent. in august 2022, the total value of deposits is worth 5. 2 billion euros, which represents an annual increase of 11. 8 percent, while the growth of deposits continued during the month of september, with a rate of 12. 7 percent. the banking sector continues to be stable, increasing lending activity and playing a very important role in crediting the country's economy during this year as well. the value of the credit portfolio of the banking sector at the end of august 2022 was in the amount of 4. 2 billion euros, with an annual increase of 18. 6 percent, while the average loan interest rate was 6. 0 percent. non - performing loans have continued with the downward trend and today the rate of non - performing loans is at the level of 2. 1 %, which is a significantly better indicator compared to countries in the region or even beyond. the banking sector continues to be well capitalized and liquid. the capital adequacy indicator for the banking sector stands at 16. 1 percent, which is significantly above