On 26 September 2025, the annual mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under Article IV of its Statute was concluded. This procedure entails a periodic assessment of the economic performance of member countries. The IMF delegation, led for the second year by Mission Chief Anna Shabunina, held technical meetings with the Government, social partners, and representatives of the country’s main economic sectors.
The Central Bank, in its role as the sole Supervisory Authority, carried out as usual its function as counterpart with respect to the San Marino financial system and, in this capacity, coordinated both the meetings and the information provided to the IMF team.
In the Mission’s Concluding Statement, which provides a summary of the assessments that will subsequently be reflected in the final Staff Report to be published in the near future, the IMF stressed that San Marino’s economic growth remains solid, that prudent fiscal policy has allowed for a reduction of system vulnerabilities, but also that the need remains to accelerate structural reforms, including those aimed at implementing the Association Agreement.
With regard to the financial system, the IMF highlighted the progress achieved in restoring confidence and the results obtained in terms of improved liquidity in the banking sector and better asset quality thanks to the reforms undertaken — including the system-wide securitisation. The IMF acknowledged the action of the Central Bank of San Marino (CBSM) to strengthen the capitalisation of institutions, also achieved through the retention of undistributed profits. Taking into account the expected benefits of the Association Agreement for the financial sector, the IMF recommended that CBSM be provided with additional resources, so as to reinforce its financial autonomy and address the challenge of European integration with an adequate technical and professional capacity.
During the technical meetings, the IMF — as also noted in the Concluding Statement — underlined the need to speed up the process of bank asset restructuring, to strengthen capital endowment, and to support system profitability also through cost-reduction policies. More generally, the IMF observed that the implementation of the Association Agreement requires that the technical profiles of individual institutions be fully aligned with the regulatory requirements of the European framework.
The recommendations made by the IMF experts are consistent with the Central Bank’s ongoing efforts to consolidate the San Marino financial system, including through the definition and sharing of a plan to achieve its full integration into the European market. In this regard, by the end of the year a dedicated Position Paper will be published, outlining the agenda of reforms promoted by CBSM, following a system-wide approach that has already proven successful in the past.
The IMF Concluding Statement is available at the following link:
https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/09/26/cs-092625-san-marino-staff-concluding-statement-of-the-2025-article-iv-mission