As far back as in 2001, the NBS gave strong support to provision of credits to small and medium sized enterprises in Serbia by acting as an agent for extension of credit lines of the European Agency for Reconstruction, European Investment Bank and the Government of Italy.
Notwithstanding the strict legal requirements set out in the Treaty for joining the new single currency - which I will come back to in a minute - many observers and investors had considered it impossible that the new single currency would deliver from day one on its promise to perform in a similar way to the best-performing constituent national currencies.