, becoming one of the few countries in the region with the credit rating above the pre - crisis level. in november 2010, fitch changed serbia ’ s credit outlook to stable from negative, in march 2011 s & p upgraded serbia to bb from bb –, and in november 2011 fitch confirmed credit rating for serbia, despite downgrades in many regional peers. the financial analysts worldwide started becoming more positive about serbian medium - term macroeconomic and currency prospects, and foreign investors started investing increasingly in serbia through fdi or portfolio investments : “ progress has been made regarding monetary policy effectiveness. the nbs has performed well and enhanced its credibility since the 2008 – 2009 crisis. ” ( fitch, november 2011 ). “ we believe the completion of the current imf arrangement and the government ’ s intention to conclude discussions surrounding a new precautionary imf agreement by around midyear should further boost investment sentiment. ” ( barclays capital, april 2011 ) bis central bankers ’ speeches “ serbia has set itself apart from other emerging - market economies in creating conditions to attract foreign investment that will fuel growth. ” ( nomura global research, december 2010 ). “ the least vulnerable countries are czech republic, poland and serbia, and turkey and russia outside the cee area. all enjoying high profitability of their banking sectors, low dependence of parent banks ’ funding and larger domestic banking ownership ” ( standard bank, august 2011 ), what caused such a dichotomy of opinions between foreign investors and domestic public? among the key reasons for improved serbian macro prospects in international analyses one would find the following : first, the external debt structure was changing patterns over the past year. banks ’ external funding sources increased in maturity. while the long - run debt made up 56 % of banks ’ total external debt in january 2010, it grew to 75 % by october 2011. also, corporates ’ external debt kept shifting from cross - borders towards domestic banking sector borrowing, yielding several important consequences. domestic debt is under the strong prudential supervision of the national bank of serbia. furthermore, domestic real credit growth of 15. 2 % in 2010 and 9. 0 % p. a. in october 2011 indicates the growth potential of the serbian banking sector. finally, while the cross - border debt is exclusively in foreign currency, domestic debt is partly, and increasingly so, in dinars, reducing the level of fx exposure in the country. second, the dinar financial market is steadily developing, and the nbs ’ s

jorgovanka tabakovic : even during the crisis serbia remained an investment center committed to people, cooperation and improving the conditions we live and work in speech ( recorded ) by ms jorgovanka tabakovic, governor of the national bank of serbia, for the postponed money fair conference 21 that should have taken place on 4 march, 4 march 2021. * * * dear hosts, sponsors, friends and participants in money fair conference 21, it is a pleasure to be able to greet you even in this virtual format. your invitation letter also unambiguously states the robustness of our response to the current global crisis. i quote : “ the great financial and economic bulwark erected by the government and the national bank of serbia, with the visionary courage of president vucic, is a strong safeguard against shocks awaiting the global economy ”. did we have the right not to respond or not to respond vigorously? i claim we did not. that was our responsibility towards citizens, who must trust policy makers, and the trust is not gained with words and nice wishes, but through actions and results. i believe we thus also support the people ’ s expectations for a better life, which they justly have. this is our obligation towards businesses as well. all companies, micro and small, medium - sized and large, need stability – political, monetary, financial. they need the certainty of doing business. in such conditions, from 2015 to 2019, the profit of our corporate sector was on a constant increase. the impact of the monetary policy of the national bank of serbia on such result was – someone would say – significant, or, as others would say – not negligible. judge for yourselves! over 50 % of the corporates ’ higher profit in that period was the result of two categories on which the national bank of serbia has a decisive influence : more favourable financing conditions and relative stability of the dinar exchange rate against the euro. and that is my message – the national bank of serbia will at all times be there for its citizens and businesses, so that we may last long and prosperously. dear colleagues, in serbia, already in the first days of the pandemic, both the national bank and the serbian government responded, in coordination and each in line with its competences. in an environment when short - term economic indicators of business confidence plummeted across the world, it was paramount to design comprehensive economic measures, implementable in the shortest time possible. we were