Who Is Jorgovanka Tabaković

Jorgovanka Tabaković (born in Vučitrn on 21 March 1960) is a Serbian economist and politician who has served as Governor of the National Bank of Serbia since August 2012. Only Đorđe Vajfert held the post for longer, which places her tenure among the longest in the history of Serbian banking.

She studied in Pristina, where she graduated as the top student of her generation. After working in education and trade, she continued her career in banking and, from 1999, worked at Telekom Srbija. She entered politics in 1992 as a member of the Serbian Radical Party, which elected her to parliament six times. From March 1998 to October 2000 she was a minister in the Serbian Government, and after the split within the radical ranks in 2008 she joined the Serbian Progressive Party.

She took over the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) on 6 August 2012, and the National Assembly reappointed her in 2018 and 2024. According to NBS data, inflation was brought down and stabilised during her tenure, the dinar remained relatively stable against the euro, and foreign exchange reserves and gold reached record levels. At the same time, her work has drawn criticism concerning the institution’s independence, supervision of banks and her doctoral dissertation. This biography follows both aspects of her career, drawing on official and media sources.

Early Life and Childhood

Jorgovanka Tabaković was born in Vučitrn, in Kosovo and Metohija, then part of the SFR of Yugoslavia. Her official date of birth is 21 March 1960, as given by the NBS and the Kopaonik Business Forum. Some media outlets, including the weekly Vreme, give 20 March of the same year, so sources differ on this detail. Information about her parents and the family she grew up in is not publicly known.

In a 2012 profile, the weekly Vreme noted that her official biography points to a “child prodigy”. She started school at the age of five, was the best pupil in primary and secondary school, and enrolled at university at seventeen. The daily Danas also reports that she was an excellent student who completed her university studies exceptionally fast.

She finished grammar school in 1977. That same year she enrolled at the Faculty of Economics in Pristina, which at the time operated within the University of Pristina, founded in 1969. That choice shaped her professional path, as economics has remained the centre of her work to this day.

Education

At the Faculty of Economics in Pristina she achieved such a high grade average in her first two years that she earned the right to an accelerated programme of study. She graduated on 14 May 1981 as the top student of her generation. Danas writes that she completed her studies in three years.

She defended her master’s thesis, “Reform of the Banking System of Yugoslavia”, in 1999 at the same faculty. She submitted her doctoral proposal, “Central Bank Instruments – Reaches and Limitations on the Example of the Republic of Serbia”, in 2008, and earned her doctorate in May 2011 at the Faculty of Service Business of Educons University in Sremska Kamenica. According to Radio Free Europe, her supervisor was Professor Milenko Dželetović.

In 2006 and 2007 she also worked as a lecturer at the Faculty of Management in Novi Sad. Her doctorate later became the subject of public debate, which is covered in the section “Criticism and Controversies”.

Early Career

Teacher and Financial Director in Pristina

From 1981 to 1989, Jorgovanka Tabaković worked as a teacher of economics subjects at the Secondary Economics School in Pristina. She then spent two years as financial director at the trading company “Grmija”. This combined classroom teaching with practical experience in managing a company’s finances.

Prištinska banka

In early 1992 she joined Prištinska banka (Pristina Bank), part of the Beogradska banka (Belgrade Bank) system, as deputy general manager. She remained in banking until 1999. She later presented this experience as the foundation of her understanding of the banking sector, whose regulation and supervision she began to oversee in 2012.

Telekom Srbija

From 1999 she worked at Telekom Srbija, where she stayed until her appointment as governor. From March 2005 to April 2010 she was General Manager of the Logistics Department, and afterwards worked as an expert for economic operations. After 1999 her family moved from Pristina to Novi Sad.

Political Career Before the National Bank

Serbian Radical Party

Jorgovanka Tabaković joined the Serbian Radical Party, led by Vojislav Šešelj, in 1992. According to the weekly Vreme, she was a member of the party’s Presidential Collegium. She was elected a Member of Parliament three times between 1993 and 2000 and three more times between 2007 and 2012. In total, she therefore served in six convocations of the National Assembly, and she spent two terms as chair of the Finance Committee.

Journalist Tamara Skrozza wrote in a 2012 profile for Vreme that during this period she was quieter and more reserved than most radical officials, and that no scandals could be found in her public work from that time. This is the author’s opinion and reflects her own assessment.

Minister in the Serbian Government

From 24 March 1998 to 24 October 2000 she served as Minister of Ownership and Economic Transformation in the Serbian Government headed by Mirko Marjanović. The government was formed by a coalition of the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Yugoslav Left and the radicals. Media often described her portfolio as the privatisation ministry, and she was succeeded by Oskar Kovač.

Move to the Serbian Progressive Party

After the split in the Serbian Radical Party in 2008, Jorgovanka Tabaković followed Tomislav Nikolić and joined the newly founded Serbian Progressive Party. According to Vreme, after the party’s formation she was in charge of presenting the Progressives’ economic analyses and ideas, especially during the 2012 election campaign. She became the party’s vice president and, once elected governor, announced that she would freeze her party function and act as a protector of citizens’ interests.

Becoming Governor of the National Bank of Serbia

During July and August 2012, the ruling majority proposed amendments to the Law on the National Bank of Serbia. Then-governor Dejan Šoškić resigned on 2 August 2012, explaining that he wished to prevent political pressure on the head of an independent institution from being the only reason for passing a bad law. Reuters described the nomination of Jorgovanka Tabaković as part of the then government’s effort to increase control over the central bank.

President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolić proposed Jorgovanka Tabaković as the new governor, and the National Assembly elected her on 6 August 2012. According to NBS data, she took over an institution at a time when inflation stood at 12.2 percent at the end of 2012 and non-performing loans accounted for about 20 percent of banking sector loans.

Her first measures included introducing a variable multiple-rate model in open market operations in December 2012, and closing four banks which, as the NBS points out, had serious governance and supervision problems in the period before 2012. The monetary easing cycle began in May 2013, when the key policy rate stood at 11.75 percent.

Greatest Achievements

The results cited below come from official National Bank of Serbia statements marking the 13th and 14th anniversaries of the governor’s tenure and represent the institution’s own assessment of its work. Analysts and the media interpret them differently, as noted in the section on criticism.

Inflation and Price Stability

According to the NBS, inflation was reduced from 12.2 percent at the end of 2012 to 2.2 percent in October 2013. Over the following eight years, until global inflationary pressures escalated, it averaged around two percent. In 2017 the inflation target was lowered from four to three percent, with a tolerance band of 1.5 percentage points. After the global price surge, inflation declined from April 2023 and returned to the target band in May 2024.

Dinar Exchange Rate and FX Reserves

The relative stability of the dinar against the euro is one of the hallmarks of her tenure. According to the NBS, the dinar has appreciated by about one percent in nominal terms since August 2012, while the NBS net purchased EUR 9.9 billion on the foreign exchange market. Gross FX reserves tripled and stood at EUR 30.5 billion at the end of July 2026, while net reserves rose from EUR 5.5 billion to EUR 26 billion.

Gold Reserves

The quantity of gold in the reserves rose from 14.8 tonnes in July 2012 to a record 54.8 tonnes, through purchases on the international market (17 tonnes in total in 2019, 2020 and 2024) and regular purchases from domestic production. The share of gold in FX reserves rose from 6.2 to about 20 percent. Part of the gold bought abroad was returned to the country, and 12 tonnes were transferred to the NBS vaults in Belgrade.

Investment-Grade Credit Rating

In October 2024, Standard & Poor’s assigned Serbia an investment-grade credit rating of BBB-. This made Serbia the first non-EU country in South-East Europe with that rating. The NBS links the achievement to price stability, high FX reserves, sustainable public finances and a stable banking sector.

Payment System and Digitalisation

The National Bank of Serbia launched the NBS IPS instant payment system in October 2018, and on 22 May 2025 Serbia became the 41st member of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The number of DinaCard payment cards issued has tripled compared with 2012, and interchange fees on card payments have been cut five to six times. The NBS also states that the number of mobile banking users grew from 66,000 to 5.1 million.

Consumer Protection and Banking Stability

The share of non-performing loans was reduced from about 20 to 2.0 percent. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, loan repayment moratoriums were introduced, which more than 90 percent of debtors used in the first wave. In September 2023 the NBS temporarily capped interest rates on euro-denominated housing loans, and in 2025 a new Law on the Protection of Financial Service Consumers was adopted, capping interest rates on all types of consumer loans.

Second and Third Term at the Helm of the NBS

At the proposal of President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, the National Assembly elected Jorgovanka Tabaković to a second six-year term in June 2018. New vice governors were appointed at the time, including Željko Jović, Ana Ivković and Dragana Stanić, and Nikola Dragašević joined them in December 2022.

Vučić proposed a third term for the governor on 18 July 2024. On 31 July 2024, lawmakers voted to elect her with 133 votes in favour and 15 against, along with the re-election of Željko Jović as vice governor. The new term began in August 2024 and lasts six years.

Two decades after the breakup of Yugoslavia, the central bank faced a series of external shocks: the pandemic, the energy crisis, the war in Ukraine and the global surge in prices. In that period the NBS first raised the key policy rate to 6.5 percent and then lowered it, to the current 5.75 percent. The Law on the National Bank of Serbia was also amended in March 2025, specifying, among other things, the NBS’s rights regarding the purchase of precious metals and creating a legal basis for the possible introduction of a digital dinar.

Criticism and Controversies

Doctoral Dissertation

The Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) published an analysis of Jorgovanka Tabaković’s doctoral dissertation on 21 December 2016, having obtained it from Educons University only after the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance threatened a fine. According to CINS, more than 20 percent of the text was taken without citation from the works of other authors. Educons University rector Aleksandar Andrejević stated at the time that all defence procedures had been respected and that the quality of the work had been confirmed by five experts in the field.

The Question of Central Bank Independence

Some economists and media question the independence of the NBS, citing the circumstances of her election and the fact that she came from the ranks of the ruling party. Economic analyst Aleksandar Milošević wrote in a column for Danas in August 2023 that her tenure had both good and bad sides, and that the perception of eroded independence had not changed. The same author acknowledged that inflation had been low for most of the mandate and that FX reserves had grown significantly, but criticised the NBS’s late reaction to the inflation wave after 2021.

The NBS, for its part, stresses that the amendments to the Law on the National Bank of Serbia in 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2025 ensured its independence, and that Standard & Poor’s has for several years noted that the institution has earned credibility and demonstrated operational independence.

Gold Purchases

President Vučić has publicly said several times that he proposed the NBS buy gold, which raised the question in public of the relationship between the executive branch and the central bank. The governor stated on several occasions that it was a proposal which the NBS considered and carried out in line with its powers, not an order.

Banking Sector and Alta Banka

Four banks were closed between the end of 2012 and the end of 2014, and the NBS stated that poor governance and supervision in the period before her tenure contributed to this. Critics of her tenure, including a Danas columnist, argue that supervision of banks had shortcomings in the years after 2012 as well.

On 31 October 2026, the NBS Executive Board decided to revoke the operating licence of Alta banka a.d. Beograd, explaining that the bank’s financial condition had deteriorated significantly and that depositors’ interests were at risk. According to N1, the NBS vice governors asked prosecutors on the same day to examine the circumstances that led to the decision. The proceedings are ongoing and their outcome is not known.

Books and Public Activity

In addition to her role as governor, Jorgovanka Tabaković is the author of several papers in the fields of privatisation and financial markets, as well as three books. “Monetary Policy – No Final Victories” was published in 2018, “My Answers – a Contribution to the History of Banking in Serbia in the 21st Century” in 2020, and “The Turning Point – Balance Is the Key to Success” in 2021.

She regularly speaks at the Kopaonik Business Forum, the largest economic gathering in the region. At that forum in March 2026 she announced that economic growth of 3.5 percent was expected that year and five percent the following year. The NBS also takes part in Serbia’s negotiations with the European Union, as it leads the negotiating groups for Chapter 9 (financial services) and Chapter 17 (economic and monetary policy).

In cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as the NBS states, one precautionary stand-by arrangement, one stand-by arrangement during the energy crisis and two non-financial Policy Coordination Instruments have been implemented since 2012. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva praised Serbia’s progress in April 2024, as the NBS notes in its statements.

Private Life

According to the official NBS biography, Jorgovanka Tabaković is a widow and the mother of three children: Ivana, Milena and Nikola. Details about her husband and the circumstances of his death are not publicly known.

Until 1999 the family lived in Pristina, and then moved to Novi Sad, where Jorgovanka Tabaković still lives today. She rarely speaks publicly about her private life, and there are no reliable public data about a burial place or other family details.

Interesting Facts

• She started school at the age of five and entered university at seventeen.
• She graduated as the top student of her generation, with the right to an accelerated programme of study.
• She was elected a Member of Parliament six times, three times before 2000 and three times after 2007.
• After Đorđe Vajfert, she has led the National Bank of Serbia longer than anyone else in its history.
• She is one of the few women to have led a central bank in the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
• According to the NBS, Serbia’s gold reserves today hold nearly four times as much gold as in July 2012.

Awards and Recognition

• Central Banker of the Year 2020 – the London monthly “The Banker”, published by the Financial Times group, named her the best governor in the world and the best governor in Europe in January 2020.
• Global Finance – an A– grade in the “Central Banker Report Cards” for 2026, presented in Bangkok in October 2026, and the publication had previously rated her work among the best in the world (2025).
• Hero of Belgrade – an award from the City of Belgrade to the National Bank of Serbia and its governor during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Order for Special Merits to the Republic of Serbia and its Citizens – awarded to the National Bank of Serbia on its 140th anniversary, and presented to the governor by President Aleksandar Vučić on Statehood Day, 16 February 2025.

Legacy and Influence

The tenure of Jorgovanka Tabaković has been defined above all by the question of stability. Assessments of her legacy differ: supporters, including the NBS itself, point to low inflation, a relatively stable exchange rate, record reserves and an investment-grade rating. Critics stress the relationship with the executive branch and questions about the supervision of banks.

What most assessments agree on is that during her tenure the NBS significantly changed the face of Serbia’s payment system, by introducing instant payments, expanding the use of the domestic DinaCard and joining the SEPA area. A regulatory framework for digital assets was also developed, and by the end of 2023 Serbia had reached compliance with all 40 FATF recommendations.

How her legacy is ultimately judged will depend on how the institution, which has also been led by vice governors Željko Jović, Ana Ivković, Dragana Stanić and Nikola Dragašević alongside her, operates in the coming years, and on how the proceedings concerning Alta banka end.