Skopje, 2 May 2023

"One cannot talk about sustainable and inclusive growth without gender equality. The concept of equal opportunities and equal chances is the only way to use the full economic potential of a country. However, only half of the female population in the world are active, unlike the male population where the activity is around 75%. Inequality is also reflected through the access to finance, lending and ownership of companies by women. There are several initiatives, including by the National Bank, to change this situation in the interest of gender equality and to develop the economies”, said the Vice Governor of the National Bank, Ana Mitreska, in an interview for the TV magazine Prikazna. 

The world economic forum prepares a special global index of gender equality, and the latest results show that only 68% of the gender gap are closed and that at this pace of changes, we will need another 136 years to fully close the gap. Data for our country are slightly better, 75% of the gap is closed, but there is an obvious need for improvement, taking into account that out of 156 countries in the world, we are in 73rd place. On the other hand, the index for economic share and economic opportunities is much weaker and shows that only 58% of the gap in the world are closed. In other words, the financial freedom of women is much smaller, due to the small share in the total labor, the smaller share of high and managing positions in both the private and the public sectors, the wage gap, etc.

“In this context, the sustainable growth also requires an inclusive financial system, which provides financial services to as many individuals as possible, including women”. World Bank data show that in our country 80% of the women have an account, compared to 90% of men. In Europe there is no difference between the male and female population in this part. There are slightly smaller differences in terms of using loans and in terms of savings. Women can be compared to men even in the part of the digital financial literacy and behavior. Although the gender gap in the part of the financial literacy and financial inclusion is not that big, however there is room for improvement”, Mitreska says.