Central Bank of Montenegro signs annex adding North Macedonia to the Western Balkans TIPS Clone instant payment infrastructure project

The Central Bank of Montenegro reported that Governor Irena Radovic held a series of bilateral meetings during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Washington, focused on strengthening international cooperation and exchanging experience. A key outcome was the signing, at a meeting of Western Balkan central bank governors with Banca d’Italia Governor Fabio Panetta, of an annex to the January Letter of Intent on implementing the TIPS Clone project, formally bringing North Macedonia into the initiative to develop an interoperable regional instant payment infrastructure. At a working breakfast hosted by senior officials from Danmarks Nationalbank, Sveriges Riksbank and the Bank of Finland, discussions covered new forms of money, digital payments, payment-system innovation and cross-border payments, with emphasis on balancing efficiency, resilience and security and on the role of the digital euro and central bank digital currencies. Radovic highlighted Montenegro’s status as a euroised economy and its integration into the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), and pointed to the relevance of Nordic experience for further development of Montenegro’s digital financial services. Separately, she met the Governor of the Central Bank of Malta, Edward Scicluna, to discuss cooperation aimed at supporting Montenegro’s integration into the European System of Central Banks, including treasury operations, cash handling and banknote issuance within the Eurosystem.