CEFTA Agreement recognises payments as important factor in trade. Its Article 16 provides guarantee that payments related to trade in goods will be free from restrictions, as well as grant, repayment, or acceptance of short- and medium-term credits to trade in goods. Article 14 of the Additional Protocol 6 on Trade in Service stipulates that no restrictions shall be applied on international transfers and payments for current transactions relating to its specific commitments. Furthermore, if the transfer of capital is an essential part of the service itself, the Parties are thereby committed to allow such movement of capital.

Together with the World Bank and Regional Cooperation Council, CEFTA takes part in activity whose aim is to make payments among the Parties more efficient and cheaper. In particular CEFTA has been interested in setting up regional framework which will limit the cost of the intra-CEFTA payments, following the best practices in the European Union.  This activity is conducted under the Common Regional Action Plan 2021-2024, as part of the Regional Trade Area – free movement of capital, priority 4.1:  Development of a modern payment system.

As for the payment services, the Parties have mixed commitments in this sector. While mode 1 (directly from one Party to another) is mostly left without commitment, mode 3 (supply of service through commercial presence in the market) is rather liberal, with some exceptions restricting the services only to licenced banks and/or financial institutions. For more discussions and plans please visit financial services section.