Skopje, 20 August 2025  

The National Bank Council adopted the Decision amending the Decision on reserve requirement, which further strengthens the role of this instrument in encouraging the savings in domestic currency and in the long term. Also, these changes represent an additional support to the monetary policy of the central bank.

The amendments to the Decision on reserve requirement increase the reserve requirement rate of foreign currency liabilities with maturity up to two years from 21% to 22%, while for foreign currency liabilities with maturity over two years, the banks will be required to allocate reserve requirement at a twice higher rate, from the current 5% to 10%. At the same time, the percentage of fulfilling the calculated obligation for the reserve requirement on the basis of foreign currency liabilities that is met in euros, increases from 85% to 90%.  

The rate of allocating the reserve requirement of denar liabilities increased from 8% to 9%. In order to support long-term denar savings and further increase the stability of the banks’ deposit base, the amendments also provide for normalization of the reserve requirement rate applied to denar deposits of natural persons with maturity over one up to two years, from the current rate of 0% to 9%.

Most of the measures will apply from the reserve requirement period that starts in November 2025, except for the normalization of the reserve requirement rate of denar liabilities with maturity over one up to two years, for which delayed application of about 14 months and possibility for the banks to adequately adjust their practices in this period, are envisaged.

It is expected that the changes to the reserve requirement system will contribute to adjustment of the interest rate policies of the banks for the purpose of increasing the supply of more attractive long-term denar savings instruments of the clients. Thus, the current favorable shifts in the banks' deposit base, which lead to higher structural share of the savings in denars and in the longer term, will be further strengthened.