Skopje, 3 April 2025

The Governor of the National Bank, Anita Angelovska Bezhoska participated in a Roundtable discussion which took place at the Faculty of Economics and Business in Osijek, within the Regional Governors’ Meeting. In her address she pointed out that the increasing number of trade barriers may affect the global economic flows, as well as the economies in Central and South-Eastern Europe, as economies with a high level of integration in global trade. The keynote address was given by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank. 

According to the ECB’s estimates, if the US impose tariffs of 25% on EU imports, the growth of the European economy would decrease by around 0.3 to 0.5 percentage points in the medium run. If the EU imposes tariffs as well, the inflation in the Euro area would increase by 0.5 percentage points. Given the high degree of trade with the EU, regional spillover effects are also possible.

To reduce such risks, it is of key importance to pursue prudent macroeconomic policies and enhanced structural reforms that would increase the resilience of the economies from the region to external shocks and would accelerate the income convergence. The Regional Meeting discussed the importance of the reforms in the field of cross-border payments to boost trade, including regional trade and economic growth. In our region, the SEPA membership in particular, would contribute to а fast and efficient payment system at lower costs, thus increasing the competitiveness of our economy.

Apart from the Governor Angelovska Bezhoska, the Roundtable meeting included Boris Vujcic, Governor of the Croatian National Bank, Primoz Dolenc, Acting Governor of the Bank of Slovenia, Irena Radovic, Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro, and Jasmina Selimovic, Governor of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina.