Adopted Financial Sector’s Roadmap towards Sustainable Finance: Green and Sustainable Development - Key to Montenegro’s Future
24/03/2025
Today, the Financial Stability Council (FSC) held its 72nd meeting chaired by Irena Radović, the CBCG Governor and the FSC’s Chairperson. Other FSC members attended the meeting - Novica Vuković, Minister of Finance; Željko Drinčić, President of the Capital Market Authority (CMA); and Marko Ivanović, President of the Council of the Insurance Supervisory Agency (ISA). Vojin Vlahović, the director of the Deposit Protection Fund, also participated at the Governor’s invitation.
The Council adopted the Financial Sector Roadmap towards Sustainable Finance to align Montenegro’s financial system with European and global sustainable development standards and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles. This document outlines a structured approach to ESG criteria in financial decision-making, thereby strengthening economic resilience, promoting social equality and contributing significantly to society’s transition towards sustainable development.
The roadmap emphasises the enhancement of institutional capacities, intensifying intersectoral cooperation, creating an enabling environment for managing climate and nature-related risks, and adopting ESG practices. The FSC will oversee its implementation, with participation from the CBCG, CMA, ISA, the Ministry of Finance, banks, insurance companies, investment funds and other financial system institutions.
The FSC also discussed the Information on Financial Stability for Q4 2024 at today’s meeting, which states that, according to preliminary data, the Montenegrin economy achieved growth of 3% in 2024. This growth was attributed to positive retail trade, construction and transport developments. However, tourism recorded a slight decrease in the number of arrivals (0.2%) and the number of overnight stays (4.9%).
The CBCG informed the FSC that, with the World Bank’s support, it formed a Working Group to draft legal amendments for introducing electronic bills of exchange, thereby initiating a meaningful reform to modernise the payment system and harmonise it with international standards.
Public finances in 2024 are assessed as relatively stable, with a reduced public debt compared to GDP. The banking sector remained stable, liquid and solvent, with the continued deposits growth.
The Information stated that the banking sector’s exposure to systemic risks was moderate at the end of 2024, with some risks of a cyclical nature present.