Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina sets out gender data commitments, Gender Policy work and instant payments plans at MICROBALKANS25

The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina published remarks by Governor Jasmina Selimovic from her keynote address at the MICROBALKANS25 conference, setting out the central bank’s current priorities on inclusive and sustainable finance. The update emphasises strengthened gender-disaggregated financial data, development of an internal Gender Policy, and digitalisation initiatives positioned as supporting inclusion and accessibility. In her speech, the Governor highlighted the role of microcredit in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly for rural areas, microenterprises, lower-income households and women entrepreneurs, noting that banks hold 87.7% of financial intermediaries’ total assets while the microcredit sector accounts for 3.4%. She reiterated that the central bank is a signatory to the WeFinance Code, under which it is obliged to develop and publish gender-disaggregated financial statistics, and confirmed that the institution is currently developing its own Gender Policy with the Fund for Southeast Europe. The remarks also referenced the central bank’s participation in the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network and the Network for Greening the Financial System, and pointed to ongoing work on instant payments, preparations for SEPA integration, and improvements to statistical reporting with gender and social dimensions.