Skopje, 16 April 2020
As part of the IMF and the World Bank Spring Meetings, which were held virtually this year, a meeting was held chaired by the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, where the European Department head Poul Thomsen presented the latest IMF forecasts. The National Bank Governor, Anita Angelovska Bezhoska, and the governors of the central banks of the Russian Federation and Croatia, Elvira Nabiullina and Boris Vujcic, were invited to take part in the meeting.
The discussion focused on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the European economies, as well as the economic policies pursued and the key challenges posed by the new events. Angelovska Bezhoska presented the macroeconomic policies conducted in our country and in other countries in the region, underlying the challenge of providing financial resources required for the implementation of fiscal policy measures aimed to mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19 on the economy.
Governor Angelovska Bezhoska emphasized that given the underdeveloped domestic financial markets, the economies in our region are in increasing need of external financing. She also addressed the need for greater support from the IMF and other international financial institutions, as well as from the European institutions, as the international private financial markets tightened due to the corona crisis.
As a member of the Vienna Initiative Steering Committee, representing the six Southeast European countries that are not yet members of the European Union, Angelovska Bezhoska took active part in the discussions about a coordinated approach to overcoming challenges of the countries in our region in this period. The solutions discussed, inter alia, include initiating enhanced financial support from EU sources.
As part of the IMF and the World Bank Spring Meetings, the National Bank Governor will also participate in the Constituent Assembly, of which our country is a member.
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