Skopje, 4 May 2021 

The data show that the measures taken by the National Bank have yielded results in the corona crisis so far. Among other things, lending conditions remain loose, evident through the continuous steady decrease in the lending interest rates, which have reached historic lows. Over the past year, the credit support has not slowed down, as has usually happened in all previous crisis episodes, thus ensuring solid credit growth.

This, among other things, was emphasized by the Vice Governor of the National Bank, Emilija Nacevska, at the webinar titled "Monetary Policy, Banks and Credit Markets in COVID-19: Dealing, Support and Consequences", organized by the University "Goce Delchev" - Shtip. In her presentation, the Vice Governor referred to the monetary policy in the conditions of the pandemic, where in addition to the policy of our central bank, she also addressed the policies of the ECB and the FED.

Nacevska also highlighted the activities of the National Bank related to the foreign exchange market. She pointed out that after the strong pressure on the foreign exchange market in the first half of last year, the situation gradually normalized, and that the National Bank with regular and timely interventions successfully defended the value of the domestic currency and ensured stability of the denar exchange rate. As she said, in addition to direct interventions in the foreign exchange market, the so-called "verbal interventions" were also important, i.e. the indications to the banks in case of larger fluctuations of their exchange rates in conditions of satisfied demand, as well as the intensified communication with the public. The presentation pointed out that communication with the public was crucial for the citizens and economic agents' perceptions, because it provides relevant information that are important in decision-making, and which, the movements in the foreign exchange market, to certain extent, depend on.

Nacevska emphasized that it is important that in the middle of last year already, the National Bank received an assistance from the ECB, in terms of strengthening the capacity to intervene in the foreign exchange market, enabled through the positive response to the request for approval of a bilateral repo line.

"In general, 2020 was a year of pandemics, and in a difficult environment, the National Bank with its timely response, by taking appropriate measures and strengthening the communication with the public, contributed to the successful achievement of its goals and stabilization of market expectations. All of this points to proper management of the crisis, provided conditions for solid credit support to citizens and companies, without compromising the stability of the banking system. However, these are not the times when we should be uncritically satisfied with what has been achieved." - said the Vice Governor Nacevska, pointing to further challenges for the policy makers.