SARAJEVO, Aug 11 (Hina) - The management board of the Central Bank of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday re-elected New Zealander Peter Nicholl the bank's governor.
SARAJEVO, Aug 11 (Hina) - The management board of the Central Bank
of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday re-elected New Zealander Peter
Nicholl the bank's governor. #L#
Nicholl has governed the country's central bank for the past five
years and, by all accounts, has been exceptionally successful in
securing the country's monetary stability and the stability of its
currency, the convertible mark.
Under the Dayton peace agreement, the first governor of the central
bank had to be a foreigner so as to avoid any politicising of the
office and prevent political parties from exerting influence on the
institution.
Nicholl has won his second mandate as a citizen of Bosnia-
Herzegovina, as earlier this year local authorities decided to give
him citizenship.
Nicholl told reporters he would remain in office until the end of
2004, after which he would be succeeded by his current deputy, vice-
governor Kemal Kozaric.
The bank's management board today also discussed the execution of
the state budget in this year's first half, with governor Nicholl
stating that the first six months of this year had been the most
difficult for the bank since its establishment.
He explained that the bank's foreign currency reserves, as well as
European interest rates, had dropped in the first half of this
year.
This caused a decrease in the bank's income, but the situation had
been taken into account previously, the governor said.
Nevertheless, in the first six months, the central bank earned a
real income of 32.5 million convertible marks (around 15 million
euros).
(hina) rml