National Bank of Serbia Governor Dejan Soskic said Friday that the rise in Serbia's credit rating, from BB- to BB according to Standard and Poor's, was a good sign, but that the investors still did not see Serbia as very interesting, so the credit rating had to be improved further.

Soskic told a news conference that any improvement in the rating improves the overall image when it comes to investment risks.

"It is a good sign, but no cause for celebration. Instead it should be an incentive to continue working towards a stable macroeconomy and financial system," he stressed.

The agencies that determine a country's credit rating take a whole series of parameters into account, and Serbia must improve each of them because it is the only way to get better rating, Soskic remarked.

A member of the European Central Bank Executive Board Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell said the improvement in Serbia's image as an investment destination was welcome.

Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert thinks the higher rating is the result of Serbia's commitment to EU integration and the arrival of macroeconomic stability with help from the International Monetary Fund.

The government efforts to ensure the rule of law were also responsible for the improvement, Degert added.

NBS signs cooperation protocol with ECB and EU Delegation to Serbia

The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) signed Friday a cooperation protocol with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the EU Delegation to Serbia, which entails assistance to the NBS in its implementation of EU standards.

The EU will provide EUR 2.5 million from the Instrument of Pre-Accession Assistance to fund the project, which is meant to make the NBS more efficient and bring its operation in line with EU regulations.

The protocol was signed by NBS Governor Dejan Soskic, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert and member of the ECB Executive Board Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell.

The project was started February 1 and is a continuation of the NBS needs analysis conducted in 2008 and 2009, said Soskic.

According to him, the project will take two years to complete and will involve experts from the ECB and 21 central banks from EU countries.

Tumpel-Gugerell stressed that the project was part of the NBS preparations to join the European central bank system.

Degert noted that a reliable and functional central bank is the basis of macroeconomic stability in any country, as well as a key element for a successful EU accession, and the project is going to help that.