The Association of Montenegrin Banks organised, in cooperation with the European Development Fund for the SEE (EFSE Development Facility), a seminar for journalists dealing with economic and financial issues. The workshop was held on 13 October 2017 in the premises of the Banking Association in Podgorica. In general, the following topics were covered:
- Banking system in Montenegro
- Interest rates
- The functioning of banks
During the workshop, the participants were introduced with the functioning of the banking sector, monetary policy and impact on economic trends, interest rates, operating costs and business risks, and how they reflected on the economy, etc. The workshop was aimed at further clarifying of the functioning of the banking system, the banking and monetary operations terms and definitions, comparability with the neighbouring systems, with a view to improving the quality of reporting and analysing trends that are published in the media. The workshop, by its nature, had educational and functional character where the objectivity was sought through understanding the topic.
In addition to the journalists, representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and the PR services of the banks attended the workshop. This workshop is similar to those held in the developed countries, with a view to promoting the advancement in the profession, which requires a continuous process of improvement of knowledge. In order to achieve better interaction, Velimir Šunja, a lecturer from Zagreb was engaged, who has justified his engagement through a high-quality presentation of the banking activity at several levels. The participants assessed that the objective was achieved that implied the design of the optimum of understanding between the bankers, the media and thus the citizens.
The EFSE Development Facility provides technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of partner institutions of the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), supports the development of responsible funding through the financial sector assistance, and conducts various types of research aimed at raising financial literacy, preventing customer over-indebtedness and their balanced financial inclusion. The EFSE Fund has been investing in Montenegro more than a decade. The main focus is on the micro-market segment, but it also supports the purchase of first housing units and the development of agriculture. It functions as a private-public partnership, which was founded in December 2005 by the German Development Bank KfW. The investors are also the European Commission, EBRD, EIB, IFC, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and others. Nowadays, it operates in 16 countries in Southeast Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus.
