Page 110 - SE Outlook Regions 2024

Looking ahead, Montenegro’s retail sales should rise further in 2024 as the government has pledged to increase pensions and public sector wages as of January.
5.8.2 Banks
At the end of December, Montenegro elected the first ever female central bank governor, Irena Radovic. She replaced Radoje Zugic whose term had expired. President Jakov Milatovic said that Radovic has a recognised personal reputation, professional experience in the fields of economics, banking, finance and law, the required five years of work experience in managerial positions in these areas when nominating her. In return, Radovic said she has the expertise to head the central bank and that she would work in favour of the public interest.
Meanwhile, all 11 commercial banks in Montenegro remained profitable in 2023. According to central bank data, they registered a profit in the first half of 2023, totalling €66.4mn. Leading the pack was Crnogorska komercijalna banka, achieving the largest profit among all banks standing at €22.4mn. Following closely behind were NLB and Hipotekarna Bank, with profits of over €10.9mn and €7.8mn, respectively.
Erste Bank, a key player in the Montenegrin banking sector, posted a profit of €7.6mn. Adriatic Bank and Universal Capital also demonstrated their financial strength with profits of €7.4mn and €4.1mn, respectively. Addiko Bank reported a profit of €2.3mn, while the profit of Lovcen Bank amounted to €2mn. Zapad Bank and Ziraat Bank achieved profits of over €1.2mn and €286,000, respectively. Rounding off the list, Prva Bank posted a profit of €205,000.
The assets of commercial banks increased 10.4% year on year to €6.79bn at the end of October after rising 11.1% y/y the previous month. Bank loans, which accounted for 60% of total assets, increased 12% y/y in October after moving up by 8.9% y/y in September, with total stock reaching €4.1bn. The increase reflected a higher rise in lending to
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