On February 13, 2019, the Agreement on the Continuation of the Bilateral Assistance and Capacity Development for Central Banks (BCC) Programme (hereinafter the Programme) has been signed in the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH). The Programme will be implemented with the support of the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) of the Swiss Government.
The Agreement was signed by the Ambassador of Switzerland in Bosnia and Herzegovina, H.E. Andrea Rauber Saxer and the Governor of the CBBH Senad Softić, Ph.D..
„Switzerland is committed to support the economic development of BiH. With financial globalization and its strong influence on BiH economy, it is important that the Central Bank of BiH has capacities to address these challenges adequately and to have optimized management of the foreign reserves and good macroeconomic accounting and statistics for the achievement of the monetary policy objectives and maintaining the currency stability. We believe that in following years, the competences of the Central Bank staff will be further upgraded. Furthermore, this project will continue to provide them with the opportunities to share their knowledge and experience with colleagues from other countries involved in the Programme and their Swiss counterparts, including those from the Swiss National Bank”, said Ambassador Rauber Saxer on this occasion.
„I must emphasize that the consulting, professional and financial assistance of Switzerland is extremely valuable for the CBBH. The Bilateral Assistance and Capacity Development for Central Banks Programme has fully justified the expectations, and we hope the continuation will be both qualitative and successful, as well“, pointed out Governor Softić.
After successfully completing the first phase of the Programme in the period from 2014 to 2017, the signing of the Agreement marked the beginning of the second phase, meaning the continuation of the Programme until 2022.
The needs analysis of the CBBH was conducted in the preparation part of the second phase, during 2018, and the following priority areas were identified, providing the strengthening and adjustment of the CBBH to the international and EU standards, through upgrading of own professional capacities: the analysis and implementation of the monetary policy (foreign reserves management and research capacity), macroeconomic accounting and statistics (data warehouse and times series methodologies), human resources management, and improvement of business continuity plans, especially in terms of IT system.
The Programme will be implemented by the Graduate Institute of International Studies – GIIS, Geneva.
