Events 2013

Four experts of the Scientific Research Center from the National Bank of Ukraine participated in the study visit at NBP Economic Institute on 18 December 2013.

The topics discussed during the study visit concerned: main areas of research activity at NBP, Economic Research Committee, open competitions for research projects, application of research findings in the monetary policy context, research on financial integration, financial sustainability and macroprudential policy, NBP research seminars, NBP research publication series, regional teams of the Economic Institute – their research and analytical activity.

We would like to thank our guests for their active participation and all NBP experts for their contribution.

The NBP workshop on Basic Analysis of Statistical Time Series organized by the International Department and Department of Statistics took place on 9-11 December 2013 in the NBP Head Office. 9 representatives from 7 central banks took part in practical meetings conducted by Ms Natalia Nehrebecka, an economic expert from Department of Statistics. The workshop, conducted only in Russian, drew upon the concepts and tools used in time series analysis and forecasting, such as: identifying patterns in time series data, univariate time series – modelling and forecasting, mod-elling volatility (financial data). The following topics, illustrated with case studies based on statistical data analyzed in the NBP were practiced on the software provid-ed for this event.

Nine PhD students of the Banking University at the National Bank of Ukraine paid a study visit to Narodowy Bank Polski between 25 and 29 November 2013.

During the very intense meetings conducted by NBP experts from the Office of the President, Payment System Department, Statistics Department, Economic Institute, Domestic Operations Department, Accounting Operations Department, Education and Publishing Department, Public Relations and Marketing Department, Financial Stability Department and Foreign Exchange Department. The participants had an opportunity to get acquainted with the organization and main tasks of the above mentioned Departments.

Apart from that the participants visited the following institutions: Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), Polish Financial Supervisory Authority (PFSA), Warsaw Stock Exchange and one of commercial banks.

Narodowy Bank Polski would like to thank participants for their active participation.

the President and the International Department of Narodowy Bank Polski between 2nd and 4th of December 2013.

During the visit our guests had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the legal basis and organizational structure of NBP, the formal and legal aspects of the NBP training activity, international and in-house training activity, adaptation of new staff as well as the periodic performance appraisal and NBP Managerial Staff Development Programme.

Guests had also the possibility to visit the NBP Training Centre in Zalesie Górne. We would like to thank all the participants for their active participation and all NBP experts for their contribution.

Two experts of the Cash Circulation and Reserves Division from the Central Bank of Armenia participated in the study visit at the NBP Security Department and the Regional Branch in Gdańsk between 26-29 November 2013.

The topics discussed during the study visit concerned mainly:

• legislation and NBP internal regulations regarding the implementation and protection of cash shipments;
• practical aspects of preparation and implementation of cash transport operations in the NBP;
• NBP cash collection from commercial banks;
• cash shipments valuation by commercial companies.

We would like to thank our guests for their active participation and all NBP experts for their contribution.

The workshop on Monetary Policy Operational Framework Development organized by the Domestic Operations Department in cooperation with the International Department, took place on 18-19 November 2013 at Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP) Head Office in Warsaw.

13 representatives from 11 central banks (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Serbia, South Korea and Ukraine) took part in the event conducted by the experts from the Domestic Operations Department and the Economic Institute.

The event drew upon the issues of the structure and main tasks of the Domestic Operations Department and the Economic Institute; moreover, the NBP experts gave lectures on such topics as: monetary policy strategy of NBP, liquidity position of the banking sector and its development in Poland, development of monetary policy operational framework of NBP, managing banking sector liquidity by NBP, standing facilities and intra-day credit, minimum reserves system in Poland, NBP as a Issue Agent of Treasury Securities, monetary policy implementation during the financial crisis: the case of Poland, Polish unsecured interbank depo market and operational target of the monetary policy.

We would like to thank all the participants and experts for their active participation.

6 representatives from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation participated in the study visit at the Accounting and Operations Department of Narodowy Bank Polski on 15-17 October 2013.

During the meetings, participants had the possibility to share knowledge on: Accounting at NBP – general overview, FX accounting at NBP (Eurosystem accounting rules vs. IAS 21), Financial reporting at Narodowy Bank Polski and Bank of Russia, Capital, reserves and general provisions – experiences of NBP and Bank of Russia.

1 representative of the Department of Information Technologies, from the National Bank of Ukraine participated in an internship at the Information Technology and Telecommunications Department and Department of Statistics on 22 – 25 October 2013.

The internship included both lectures and practical sessions on topics related to the activities of the both departments.

The NBP seminar on Legal Aspects of the Central Bank’s Tasks organized by Legal Department in cooperation with the Financial System Department, Economic Institute and International Department took place in the NBP training centre in Starawieś on 22-24 October 2013. Twenty representatives from 13 central banks took part in the event conducted by NBP experts and speakers from the Bank for International Settlements, European Central Bank and Polish Financial Supervision Authority.

The event drew upon the issues of the theoretical and practical aspects of the concerns related to the official capital and liquidity support of the financial institutions, supervision over financial market, outline of action taken by public institutions in response to the financial crisis, bank resolution techniques, shadow banking as well as the proposed directive on financial transaction tax.

Narodowy Bank Polski would like to thank all the participants for their active participation.

Two representatives from the National Bank of Kazakhstan paid a study visit to the Domestic Operations Department and the Economic Institute of Narodowy Bank Polski between 23rd and 24th of October 2013.

During the visit our guests had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the process of liberalization of foreign exchange regime in Poland.

Narodowy Bank Polski would like to thank all the participants for their active participation.

The workshop on Audit in the Central Bank organized by the Internal Audit Department in cooperation with the International Department, took place on 7-9 October 2013 at Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP) Head Office in Warsaw.

20 representatives from 15 central banks (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine) took part in the event conducted by the experts from the Internal Audit Department.

The event drew upon the issues of the structure and main tasks of the Internal Audit Department; moreover, the NBP experts gave lectures on such topics as: risk assessment and estimation for audit purposes, selected issues concerning IT security management audits, the issuance of currency audit, audit of computer software and hardware purchases, audit of the Foreign Exchange Reserve Management System – Wallstreet Suite 7.2., audit of Business Continuity Management, correctness in calculating and announcing exchange rates at NBP, internal control system at NBP, preparation of the IAD’s activity plan and report on audit activities.

We would like to thank all the participants and experts for their active participation.

The workshop on Advanced Financial Risk Management Methods organized by the Financial Risk Management Department in cooperation with the International Department, took place on 24-26 September 2013 at the NBP Head Office in Warsaw.

20 representatives from 16 central banks (Armenia, Belarus, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine) took part in the event conducted by the experts from the Financial Risk Management Department, headed by Ms Ewa Szafarczyk – Director of the Department.

The workshop was a platform to discuss such topics as: optimization techniques supporting strategic asset allocation, credit risk management, foreign reserves management at NBP, reserves adequacy – impact of accumulation on International Financial Stability, recent trends in reserves management. Apart from referring to the theoretical aspects of financial risk management methods, the workshop participants had also an opportunity to participate in an investment game.

The workshop participants had also a chance to hear a presentation of Ms Andrea Haag from Swiss National Bank who told about the benefits of diversifying into equities.

We would like to thank all the participants for their active participation.

The NBP seminar on Payment Systems and Non-Cash Transactions organized by Payment System Department in cooperation with the International Department, took place on 17-19 September 2013 in the NBP Headquarters in Warsaw. 24 representatives from 17 central banks took part in event conducted by experts from the Payment System Department.

The event drew upon the issues of the structure and main tasks of the Payment Systems Department, law governing the Polish payment system, issues of payment system oversight.

Moreover, the NBP expert has conducted presentations on the following subjects: LVPS owned and operated by the NBP and participation of the NBP in the SORBNET2 and TARGET2-NBP system, payment cards market in Poland, Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA), retail payments via KIR S.A., innovations, interchange fee in Poland, analyses and research.

Narodowy Bank Polski would like to thank all the participants for their active participation.

Ms Naira Ustsinchyk, Chief Economist in Economic Analysis and Forecasting Department of the Monetary Policy and Economic Analysis Directorate and Ms Hanna Hasiuk, Chief Economist in Balance of Payments and Banking Statistics Directorate, both from the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus, and Mr Dauren Shayakhmet, Expert in the Research and Statistics Department of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, participated in the study visit at the Department of Statistics of Narodowy Bank Polski on 10-12 September 2013.

The topics discussed during the visit covered mainly theoretical basis for time series modelling such as: Univariate ARMA, ARIMA, ARIMAX Models, Vector autoregressive VAR models, Vector error correction models (VECMs), patterns and time series data analysed in Narodowy Bank Polski. During the meetings, participants had the possibility to acquire knowledge on concepts and tools used in the time analysis and forecasting.

Twelve representatives from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) paid a study visit to the NBP between 21-23 of August 2013. The delegation, headed by the SBV Deputy Governor – Mr Nguyen Toan Thang, visited the NBP within the Financial Sector Modernization and Information Management Project, established and financed by the World Bank. The aim of the project is to support the improvement of the provision of the main functions of the Vietnamese central bank and other organizations in accordance with international standards for the banking sector. The topics discussed during the meetings related to such issues as: macroprudential supervision, supervisory statistics, data flow and data warehouse, foreign reserves management, monetary policy operational framework and financial accounting and reporting at the NBP. The delegates had also the opportunity to be introduced with the Polish Financial Supervision Authority’s overview of the banking supervision in Poland.

Mr Ilgiz Musin, Chief Economist of the Financial Statistics and Review Department from the National Bank of Kyrgyz Republic, participated in a study visit at the Financial System Department of the National Bank of Poland between 31 July – 2 August 2013.

The topics discussed during the study visit concerned: design of the Financial Safety Net in Poland, Senior Loan Officer Survey as a credit policy monitoring tool and a source of data for credit growth modelling, as well as the macro stress testing framework used by the National Bank of Poland to investigate the resilience of the Polish banking sector. The representative of the National Bank of Kyrgyz Republic had also the opportunity to get acquainted with the main indicators for monitoring of banks’ liquidity risk and performing liquidity stress tests used at the Financial System Department.

Mr Ihor Bolgarin, Head of the Macroprudential Analysis Unit from the National Bank of Ukraine participated in an internship at the Financial Stability Department and Economic Institute of the National Bank of Poland between 22-26 July 2013.

The topics discussed during the internship concerned mainly the macro stress testing framework used by the National Bank of Poland to investigate the resilience of the Polish banking sector. This included the sources of data used for stress testing, econometric models and analysis used in the stress testing procedure, and the construction of macroeconomic stress scenarios.

The representative of the National Bank of Ukraine had the opportunity to get familiarized with the approach of the NBP to stress testing including practical sessions on the stress testing models and procedures used by the NBP.

Nine representatives from the Central Bank of Bangladesh paid a study visit in the Office of the President, Cash and Issue Department, International Department, Payment System Department, Personnel Department, Security Department of the NBP between 20-21 of June 2013. The topics discussed during the meetings related mainly to a broad range of training activities performed by the NBP (for the NBP employees as well as for the commercial banks). The delegates had also the opportunity to be introduced with the Polish Financial Supervision Authority’s educational initiatives for the financial market entities.

The workshop on Seasonal Adjustment of Economic Time Series with Demetra+ organized by the Department of Statistics in cooperation with the International Department, took place on 17-19 June 2013 at the NBP Head Office in Warsaw.

13 representatives from 11 central banks (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Macedonia, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Tunisia, Ukraine) took part in the event conducted by Ms Sylwia Grudkowska – Economic Expert from the NBP Department of Statistics.

The workshop, conducted in English with simultaneous translation into Russian, was a platform to discuss the theoretical concepts and the practical problems of seasonal adjustment. It focused on the two most commonly used seasonal adjustment methods, i.e. TRAMO/SEATS and X-12-ARIMA and included useful practical recommendations. The workshop aimed to introduce the participants to the main features of recently developed seasonal adjustment software, namely Demetra+ and JDemetra+, and to enable them to take advantage of this powerful tools in a daily work.

We would like to thank all the participants for their active participation.

Twenty two representatives from 15 central banks participated in the seminar on Business Continuity Management in the Central Bank. The NBP’s seminar took place on 11-13 June 2013 at the NBP’s headquarters. The experts from the NBP’s Security Department presented the following topics: history and experience gained in the field of business continuity, business continuity plan in the NBP – documentation and methodology, assumptions in the “stress scenario”, survival strategy and business continuity plan exercise.

The participants had also the opportunity to familiarize themselves with critical functions covered by business continuity plan at the NBP presented by experts from Cash and Issue Department, Foreign Exchange Department, Payment System Department, Accounting and Operations Department. The technical measures to ensure business continuity were also discussed with the IT Department.

We would like to thank all the participants for their active participation, sharing their ideas and business continuity management practices.

The NBP workshop on Security Standards in Bank Facilities – the Share of Technical Surveillance Devices in the Actions Taken by Employees Responsible for Security organized by the Security Department and the NBP Regional Branch in Rzeszów in cooperation with the International Department, took place on 13-16 May 2013 at the NBP Training Center in Zalesie Górne and in NBP Regional Branch in Rzeszów.

24 representatives from 16 central banks took part in the event conducted by experts from the NBP Security Department, the NBP Regional Branch in Rzeszów and the following institutions: Polish National Police Headquarters and the Rzeszów Voivodship Police Headquarter.

The event drew upon the issues of the security standards in Bank facilities such as: managing technical and human means of protection, risks and threats to the security of NBP facilities (assessment and analysis, containment methods), use of technical security devices in practice or protection of NBP facilities on holidays and at night.

In the NBP Regional Branch in Rzeszów, participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the theoretical aspects of security standards such as: procedures for cash replenishment and collection to/from commercial banks, (principles for cooperation with banks), check and validation of commercial banks’ cash transports (configuration and operation of the system), as well as the practical ones regarding presentation of system for checking and validation of cash transports, presentation of equipment and weapons used by the NBP Bank guard at Rzeszów Regional Branch (armoured trucks, escort vehicles, vests, weapons) and presentation of elements of Bank guard’s training practice.

After an intense three-day workshop, on the last day the representatives of central banks visited Łańcut Castle.

Twelve representatives from 11 central banks participated in the workshop on Advanced Econometrics: Introduction to Bayesian Econometrics. The NBP workshop took place on 21-23 May 2013 at the NBP’s headquarters. The workshop, conducted by the expert of the NBP Economic Institute, covered the following topics: posterior inference in linear regression model, numerical methods in Bayesian inference, Bayesian Vector Autoregression (VAR) model, Bayesian Structural VAR and Bayesian estimation of DSGE models.

Four representatives from the Central Bank of Myanmar, which has joined the NBP technical cooperation programme this year, paid a study visit to the NBP Economic Institute and Financial Risk Management Department on 10 May 2013. Ms Nwe Ni Tun, Ms Naw Eh Hpaw, Ms Cho Cho Wynn and Ms Khin Marlar Ko Ko had the opportunity to discuss subjects regarding real effective exchange rates, exchange rate modeling and policy in transition economies and foreign reserves management at the NBP.

Twenty two representatives from 15 central banks participated in the seminar on Monetary Policy in Turbulent Times at the National Bank of Poland. The NBP seminar took place on 7-9 May 2013 at the NBP’s headquarters. The experts from the NBP’s Financial System Department, Domestic Operations Department and the Economic Institute presented the following topics: the role of central bank in the financial stability framework, impact of financial stability on monetary policy, senior loan officers’ loan survey, new supervisory architecture of the EU, macroprudential policy and its tools, modelling economy in trouble, financial crisis and interest rate pass-through and monetary policy operational framework of the National Bank of Poland. The delegates had also the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the monetary policy framework and monetary policy transmission in Tunisia after the revolution.Twenty two representatives from 15 central banks participated in the seminar on Monetary Policy in Turbulent Times at the National Bank of Poland. The NBP seminar took place on 7-9 May 2013 at the NBP’s headquarters. The experts from the NBP’s Financial System Department, Domestic Operations Department and the Economic Institute presented the following topics: the role of central bank in the financial stability framework, impact of financial stability on monetary policy, senior loan officers’ loan survey, new supervisory architecture of the EU, macroprudential policy and its tools, modelling economy in trouble, financial crisis and interest rate pass-through and monetary policy operational framework of the National Bank of Poland. The delegates had also the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the monetary policy framework and monetary policy transmission in Tunisia after the revolution.

From 22 to 25 April 2013 Mr Roman Kapralov from the National Bank of Ukraine participated in an internship at the Payment System Department.

The internship included both lectures and practical sessions on topics related to the role of the National Bank of Poland in the payment system (operator, catalyst and oversight) or innovations in retail payments.

The internship participant has also got acquainted with the role of the Payment System Council, retail payment systems – role of the clearing house, the ELIXIR, Express ELIXIR and EuroELIXIR systems. The course has been mainly prepared by Mr Robert Klepacz, Deputy Director of the Payment System Department.

Mr Timur Dzhusupov – Member of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic Board and Ms Dylnur Akimova – Head of the Risk Control Division, paid a study visit to the NBP between 19-25 April 2013.

Representatives of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic have met with Mr Piotr Wiesiołek – NBP Vice President, First Deputy President, as well as with the representatives of the Office of the President, Financial Risk Management Department, Foreign Exchange Department, Operational Risk and Compliance Department and Security Department.

Throughout the week of meetings following issues were discussed: the organizational structure and distribution of tasks within the NBP, history and experience in the area of business continuity, telecommunications risk management, the development of methodologies for operational risk assessment and measurement, conducting analyses and monitoring of operational risk at the NBP. The programme also covered the topics of compliance function area including financial risk management methods and developing periodic investment strategies and conducting foreign exchange operations, on the basis of targets and priorities established by the Management Board of the NBP.

The NBP seminar on The Fight Against Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism organized by the Accounting Operations Department in cooperation with the International Department, took place on 23-24 April 2013 at the NBP Headquarters in Warsaw. 24 representatives from 16 central banks took part in the event conducted by experts from the NBP Accounting Operations Department and the following institutions: the Ministry of Finance, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and commercial bank (Alior Bank).

The event drew upon the issues of the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism such as: the Polish Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) – core function, the organization of the fight against money laundering in commercial bank, the system of combating money laundering and terrorism financing in Poland, new European Union legal framework for AML/CFT after the New FATF 40 Recommendations.

Two representatives from the National Bank of Ukraine – Ms Kateryna Melnyk, Head of the Economic Policy Analysis Unit, Economic Policy Department and Mr Olexandr Chopa, Chief Economist in the Financial Stability Unit, Economic Policy Department participated in an internship at the Financial Stability Department and Economic Institute of the National Bank of Poland between 22-26 April 2013.

The topics discussed during the internship concerned mainly: the process of preparation of NBP’s Financial Stability Reports, analysis of developments on financial markets, public finances and external equilibrium of the Polish economy, as well as contingency planning at the NBP.

Representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine had the opportunity to get familiarized with the analytical discussions conducted internally in the process of formulating the key messages of the Financial Stability Report and could see how financial stability analysis is conducted in practice.

Two representatives from the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus: Mr Dzianis Shkurynski – Deputy Director of International Audit Directorate, Head of Risk Management Group and Ms Marina Bashan – Chief Specialist, Risk Management Group, Internal Audit Directorate, participated in an internship at the Operational Risk and Compliance Department.

Throughout the 2 weeks of meetings the following issues were discussed: the development of methodologies for operational risk assessment and measurement, conduction of analyses and monitoring the operational risk at the NBP, collection and analysis of information, creation and upkeep of databases, development and update of operational risk map at the NBP. The programme also covered the topics of compliance function area including identification, monitoring, assessment and measurement of compliance risk at the NBP.

Fifteen representatives from the People’s Bank of China paid a study visit to the Security Department and the IT Department on 18th April 2013. The meeting hosted by the NBP Vice President, First Deputy President– Mr Piotr Wiesiołek, was organized within “EU-China Trade Project II” Initiative, an aid programme established by the European Commission. A visit was an opportunity to exchange experience and knowledge on issues related to business continuity management and information security between the Chinese delegates and the NBP experts.

Twenty seven representatives from 17 central banks participated in the seminar on Educational Projects at the National Bank of Poland. The NBP seminar organized by the Education and Publishing Department in cooperation with the International Department took place on 10-12 April 2013 at the NBP’s headquarters. The experts from the NBP’s Education and Publishing Department presented the following topics: educational projects in the Media, small projects – commission of education, financial education, the NBP’s educational strategy, evaluation of educational activities and social research diagnosing, educational projects financially supported by the NBP. The delegates also had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the project of the NBP’s Money Centre – a modern way of economic education.

Fifteen representatives from 11 central banks participated in the workshop on Introduction to DSGE Modelling at Central Banks organized by the Economic Institute in cooperation with the International Department. The workshop was held in the NBP headquarters in Warsaw on 16-18 April, 2013. The workshop, designed for central banks economists, included both lectures and practical sessions (with usage of MATLAB and Dynare) on such topics as: extracting cyclical information, business cycle facts, basic RBC model, log-linearization, solving and simulating DSGE models, introduction to Dynare, simulating and estimating DSGE models in Dynare, DSGE models for economy policy: the New Keynesian setup.

From 2 to 5 April 2013, two representatives from the Central Bank of Tunisia – Mr Mehdi Bhoury and Mr Mohamed Salim Mouha participated in an internship at the Economic Institute (EI) within the framework of the Twinning Agreement with the Bank of France, where NBP economists act as ad hoc experts.

The internship included both lectures and practical sessions on topics relating to business cycle measurement and diagnosis with spectral methods of time series analysis. The internship participants have also got acquainted with Markov-switching type models use within business cycle research. Practical sessions included the analysis of Tunisian economic data with above mentioned econometric techniques in EViews and MATLAB. The course has been prepared by Mr Pawel Skrzypczyński from Economic Institute.

Our guests have also discussed details of the NBP’s papers showing current state of the business cycle in Poland prepared on a regular basis by experts of the Economic Institute for the NBP Management Board and the Monetary Policy Council. This part of the course was chaired by Mr Piotr Popowski. As a final point, Ms Roza Lewinska has reviewed and validated Mr Bhoury’s works on CVAR models for Tunisia.

Five representatives from the Central Bank of Turkmenistan paid a study visit in Security Department and Regional NBP Branch in Kielce on 26-28 March 2013. Mr Shahmuradov Bayrammurat, Deputy Head of Inkaso Department, Mr Mammedov Arslan, Head of Inkaso and Valuables Transportation Division, Mr Gurbamuradov Mammetmurat, Specialist in Ashgabat Inkaso Division, Mr Shamuradov Begench, Specialist and Mr Agabayev Rahman, Specialist in the Bank Cash Monitoring Division from the Department of Cash Circulation and Issue had the opportunity to discuss subjects regarding:

• legislation and internal regulations regarding the implementation and protection of cash shipments;
• practical aspects of preparation and implementation of cash transport operations in the NBP;
• cash collection from commercial banks;
• cash shipments valuation by commercial companies.

Four representatives from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation – Ms. Liudmila Ivanova – Deputy Head of Securities Division, Ms. Irina Goryaynova – Deputy Head of Securities Division, Ms. Tatiana Ageeva – Chief Accountant, First Operational Division, Ms. Oxana Melekhina – Head of Bank of Russia′s Operations in the Foreign Currencies Accounting Unit, First Operational Division, paid a study visit in the Statistics Department of the NBP between the 19 and 21 of March 2013.

During the visit our guests had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Foreign Reserves Management at NBP.

Four representatives from the National Bank of Ukraine – Mr. Bohdan Lukasevych – Director of the Accounting Department, Ms. Hanna Zhyhailo – Deputy Director of the Accounting Department, Ms. Nataliia Kolomiiets – Deputy Head of Office – Head of Department, Accounting Department, Ms. Galyna Melnyk – Head of Office, Department of Legal and Methodological Support of Banking Regulation and Supervision and two representatives of the NBU Banking University – Prof. Alexander Baranovsky and Prof. Olha Vovchak paid a study visit in the Statistics Department of the NBP between the 12 and 14 March 2013.

During the visit our guests had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the XBRL reporting standard.

The NBP seminar on Award of Public Contracts in Central Banks – NBP Experience against the Background of Polish and European Regulations organized for the first time by the Public Procurement Department in cooperation with the International Department, took place on 12-14 March 2013 in the NBP Headquarters in Warsaw.

13 representatives from 9 central banks took part in the event conducted by experts from the Procurement Department.

The event drew upon the issues of the public procurement system in Poland (implementation of EU directives, the main rules of national law, public procurement institutions in Poland); contracts carried out in Poland in line with the rules of the national law (the range of national law application; exclusions, contracts carried out separately, i.e. not under the national law, organization of awarding public contracts in the NBP, good practices in public procurement, NBP experience in contract awarding in contacts with other central banks, public procurement as an instrument of combating financial fraud).

The sessions conducted in English with simultaneous translation into Russian, conducted on the first day of the seminar by Mr Arkadiusz Szyszkowski, Deputy Director and Ms Maria Czarnecka, Chief Specialist and on the second day by Ms Elżbieta Gnatowska, Director of the Procurement Department along with Mr Robert Miętkiewicz, Head of Planning and Supporting Division (who presented various fields of activity of the Procurement Department on the Sharepoint Platform) were the panel for an interactive discussion and exchange of experiences among the participants.

As the conclusion of the seminar, its participants had an opportunity to meet with Mr Przemysław Szelerski, Deputy Director of the Internal Finance Department from the Ministry of Finance, who discussed different issues of the public procurement in the governmental administration.

Four representatives from the Central Bank of Tunisia – Mr Mohamed Salah Souilem, General Manager for Monetary Policy, Mr Ahmed Tarchi, General Manager for Research and Training, Ms Rym Kolsi, Head of the Monetary Policy Strategy Department and Mr Ali Ridha Ben Achour, Head of Governor’s Private Secretary paid a study visit in the Economic Institute, Office of the President, Public Relations and Marketing Department, Financial System Department along with the Domestic Operation Department of the NBP between the 7th and 8th February 2013. During the visit our guests had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the general aspects of the NBP’s communication policy.

Two representatives from the Central Bank of Turkmenistan paid a study visit in Domestic Operations Department, Foreign Exchange Department and the Economic Institute on 23-24 January 2013. Mr Meredov Alladurdy, Head of Department for Currency Regulation and International Economic Relations and Mr Atayev Mammetmyrat, Specialist of Registration and Monitoring of Foreign Trade Operations Division had the opportunity to discuss subjects regarding:

• The evolution and management of the FX policy in Poland;
• Setting and publishing exchange rates of the zloty against foreign currencies;
• Exchange rate regimes – classification, most common exchange rate regimes according to IMF classification, exchange rate regime choice;
• Basket currency regime – basket construction, criteria, structure, the Polish experience in currency basket system adoption;
• Real effective exchange rates – methodology, effective exchange rate indices and their significance for monetary policy authorities, the Polish experience.