Skopje, 29 January 2021 

The National Bank Governor Anita Angelovska Bezhoska took active part in the regular All Governors’ Meeting hosted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The January meeting focused on the data from the BIS survey on the latest foreign reserves management trends. The survey results show that central banks still prefer to invest foreign reserves in financial instruments such as government securities of countries with high credit rating since these are low risk and highly liquid instruments. Central banks increasingly invest in financial instruments used for funding projects that contribute to developing “green” and sustainable economy. These activities are part of more comprehensive strategic directions of central banks, as socially responsible institutions. The latest changes to the National Bank strategic plan in December were made in this context, so in the period ahead research activities are planned for determining the effects the climate changes and economic costs have on the economy and financial system.

The participation of Governor Angelovska Bezhoska in this event hosted by the BIS just confirms the National Bank efforts for continuous monitoring of trends in the central bank community, timely implementation of international standards and contribution towards creating “green” and sustainable economy, which would ultimately provide a higher standard of living and improve quality of life.

Besides the central banks’ activities in the field of foreign reserves management, the lessons learned from the period of COVID-19 crisis statistic, presented in the annual report of the Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics, were also discussed. The first lesson refers to the necessity of high-quality statistics which need to be comprehensive, granular, flexible and integrated. The second lesson is that despite the significant progress made in the statistics after the Global Financial Crisis, there are still gaps in databases which were emphasized with the market movements in March last year that have yet to be addressed. As emphasized in the meeting, the third lesson from the pandemic crisis is the need for deepening the available statistics beyond the standard scope, especially in times of crisis.

The participants in the All Governors’ Meeting were unanimous that the availability of timely, frequent and well-documented indicators proved necessary for making informed economic decisions in times of crisis. In the last few years, recognizing the importance of solid statistics, the National Bank has been intensively improving the scope of statistics, adhering it to the highest international standards while undertaking activities to clarify statistics and making it understandable and comprehensible for the general public.