The Governor of the National Bank, Anita Angelovska Bezhoska made her first professional presentation at this year’s edition of the “Erste Investors’ Breakfast” Conference, traditionally organized by Erste Bank and Sparkasse Bank Macedonia. In her presentation, she addressed the role of monetary policy in the process of real convergence of the economies of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, including our economy.

Among other things, Angelovska Bezhoska indicated that in the period after the global financial crisis, the central banks in all countries of the region, including ours, through their expansive policy made a significant contribution to the acceleration in the growth and the convergence of the economies. As she said, lowering policy rates and providing additional liquidity contributed to easing credit conditions, and thereby allowing easier access to financing. This adjustment of monetary policies, according to the Governor’s presentation, especially in the countries with a fixed exchange rate, was partially enabled by the relaxed policy of the European Central Bank (ECB), which, according to the expectations, would continue in the following period.

“However, the space for direct support of the economic growth through the monetary policy in the region is narrowed, in conditions of already low interest rates and narrowed interest rate spread in relation to the interest rate of the ECB, but also in conditions of increased global uncertainty.” - said Angelovska Bezhoska. In the ending of her presentation, she said that in order to achieve the necessary acceleration in the real convergence, in the coming period it is necessary to focus on structural and institutional reforms that will enable faster and sustainable growth of the economies of the region.

Otherwise, this year’s seventh in a row edition of the “Erste Investors’ Breakfast” Conference included opening speeches by the Minister of Finance, Nina Angelovska and the President of the Board of Directors of Sparkasse Bank Macedonia, Gligor Bishev. The event was attended by analysts and experts from the Erste and Sparkasse Group, as well as experts and analysts from the domestic financial sector and representatives of financial regulators. Through their presentations and within the discussions, they presented their analyses and assessments of the current trends in the financial area at global and regional level, thus especially referring to our economy.