09 December 2003 16:47
Serbian central bank streamlines workforce, revises salaries
At the only press conference she has held to date, NBS [National Bank of Serbia] Governor Kori Udovicki said that our
central bank, with its cumbersome structure and the size of its workforce, was comparable only to the Central Bank of
Russia.
Rationalization measures that were taken by her predecessor Mladjan Dinkic and that are being taken by the present
management are just the beginning of a lengthy process of transformation of the NBS into a modern and streamlined
central bank, as has been done in some transitional countries (Poland, Romania). How far has our central bank progressed
down this road to transformation?
>From a workforce of 9,930 in the year 2000, the number of NBS employees is now down to 5,357; of this number, 1,247
are employed at the head office in Belgrade. The workforce was significantly reduced after the ZOP [Accounting and
Payments Institute] was dissolved and payment operations transferred to the commercial banks. At that time, 1,000-1,500
people transferred to the Finance Ministry; several hundred went to the National Savings and other banks that took over
ZOP employees on contract, while the others were discharged, retired, or moved to other jobs. Under the governorship of
Mladjan Dinkic, 513 new workers were hired in Belgrade, while 466 were terminated. According to estimates made on the
basis of comparative indicators from central banks in transitional economies, the optimum size of the workforce for the
NBS would be about 2,200 people, 1,000 of whom would be doing the conventional jobs, 800 would be doing treasury and
money-changing transactions, and about 400 would be employed at the mint in [Belgrade's district of] Topcider.
According to these estimates, most of the workers laid off were in jobs that have been made obsolete by the dissolution
of the ZOP.
The average salary in the NBS in the period from January to October of this year was 23,491 dinars a month, which was
more than double the average wage in the Serbian economic sector in the same period, but below the average wage in the
financial sector. Taking retirement from the NBS is a lucrative proposition, as evident from the fact that, even two
years ago (2001), the average wage in this institution was above the average wage in the economic sector of the day. The
salary figures for the governor, vice governor, and sector directors is classified information. This might change,
however, because the present management maintains that the existing regulations treat as classified information much of
the data that is accessible to the public in other countries. [Passage omitted]
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