At the numerous meetings the delegation, led by the Governor of the National Bank, Anita Angelovska Bezhoska and the Minister of Finance, Dragan Tevdovski, held with high representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within the Spring Meetings of the World Bank (WB) group and the IMF, in Washington, it was concluded that the monetary policy of the country is adequate. At the same time, the monetary relaxation was also emphasized, in conditions of stable movements on the foreign exchange market and absence of inflationary pressures, which is the National Bank’s key support to the overall activity in the economy. "Current movements show moderate growth in domestic prices, and thus absence of price pressures. The average annual inflation rate in the first three months of the year is below the level projected by the National Bank. Also, the latest estimates indicate smaller pressures from the import prices this year.” - it was emphasized at the meetings.
The delegation has held meetings with the Director of the IMF’s European Department Poul Thomsen, the IMF’s Executive Directors Anthony De Lannoy and Richard Doornbosch, as well as the head of the IMF mission for our country, Jesmin Rahman. Besides the monetary policy, the meetings were focused also on the economic development and the economic indicators that are monitored by the central bank. The Governor of the National Bank emphasized that the available high frequency data from the beginning of the year point to further favorable movements in the economy, which corresponds with the expectations for gradual acceleration of the economic growth in the coming period. Regarding the monetary developments, the Governor discussed about the deposit growth, which exceeds the projection, as well as the level of the credit growth during the previous and the first quarter of this year. At the meetings, the latest IMF projections for the Macedonian economy were also discussed.
Special attention was paid to the technical assistance that the IMF provides to the National Bank. Moreover, the great satisfaction from the so far cooperation and the results that our central bank achieved with the IMF support was also highlighted at the meetings. "By continuous adherence to the latest European and international standards and best practices, we are firmly committed to further improve several segments of our operations, which is also outlined in our Strategic Plan. Hence, it will be crucial for us to get the IMF support in order to enable faster and more efficient conduct of part of the reforms we have set out"- said Governor Angelovska Bezhoska, who explained to the IMF's senior officials the projects that instigated future cooperation.
At the meeting with the Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Andre McDowell and the EIB’s Director General for Credit Operations Jean-Christophe Laloux, the National Bank and the EIB signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the implementation of the EIB Lending Survey for the Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
“By joining of our central bank in this important project of the EIB, we have the opportunity to once again confirm our commitment to actively participate in international initiatives important for the more thorough monitoring of the flows in the economy. In this way, as a central bank, we enable direct involvement of several banks from our banking system in the EIB’s Lending Survey. Thus, this Survey will give a clear picture for the situation on our lending market, as well as the movements of the credit demand, simultaneously enabling to better perceive the factors that affect the credit demand, as well as changes in the lending terms. It is especially important that this is in context of the perceptions for further economic developments in the region. It is also significant that through this project, at a semi-annual level, we will have the opportunity to perceive the conditions with the lending activity in our country comparatively, within the framework of the CESEE ", - the Governor of the National Bank emphasized after the signing of the Memorandum.
Angelovska Bezhoska also participated in the meeting of the Supervisory Board of the Vienna Initiative 2, which discussed the latest developments within the CESEE's banking systems.
Within the Washington meetings, our delegation met with the Vice President of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia, Cyril Muller, with the WB’s Regional Director of the Western Balkans Linda Van Gelder, as well as with the WB’s Executive Director for the Constituency, where our country is a member, Koen Davidse, as well as with the Vice President of the International Financial Corporation for Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, Georgina Baker.
The annual edition of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF ends today.
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Галерија - Пролетни средби, 2019 |