Competence of the National Bank of Serbia in the field of statistics

The National Bank of Serbia collects, processes and publishes statistical data under its remit pursuant to Articles 68–70 of the Law on the National Bank of Serbia, which regulate the obligation for legal persons and entrepreneurs to record, collect, process and submit relevant data.

In accordance with Article 6 of the Law on Official Statistics, the National Bank of Serbia is one of the responsible producers of official statistics. The statistical fields for which the National Bank of Serbia is responsible are defined in more detail in the Official Statistics Programme, and the detailed content of activities, research timeframes and data sources are given in the annual Official Statistics Plan:

  • Monetary and financial statistics
  • Statistics of international economic relations
  • Payment system statistics

Also, in accordance with Article 37 of the Law on Foreign Exchange Operations, the National Bank of Serbia prescribes to residents the obligation to report on payments, collections and transfers in respect of foreign payment transactions, given that these data are used for the preparation and projections of the balance of payments of the Republic of Serbia as an analytical basis for determining the goals and objectives of monetary policy.

Since the National Bank of Serbia is a responsible producer of official statistics, it relies on the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP) when compiling and publishing data. The European Statistics Code of Practice was adopted by the European Statistical System Committee in February 2005 and was revised in 2011 and 2017. The Code is based on 15 principles concerning the institutional environment, statistical processes and outputs adopted with the aim of ensuring that statistics produced within the European Statistical System are not only relevant, timely and accurate, but also in line with the principles of professional independence, impartiality and objectivity.

The National Bank of Serbia, in cooperation with the Serbian Statistical Office and the Ministry of Finance, participates in the production of national accounts statistics of the government sector and related statistics. In order to establish an efficient statistical system in the field of national accounts, which will be harmonised with the relevant EU legislation, based on the European Statistics Code of Practice, the National Bank of Serbia, the Statistical Office and the Ministry of Finance concluded a Cooperation Agreement on 30 September 2019 in the area of ​​national accounts of the government sector and related statistics.