Skopje, 4 May 2023

This year, the British official monetary and financial institutions forum ranks the National Bank first in the world among central banks and financial institutions in terms of representation of women in management positions.  This is part of the announcement dedicated to the Gender Balance Index in financial institutions for 2022, which has been ranking financial institutions according to gender representation for ten years in a row.   

The announcement on representation of women in the National Bank’s management points out that 70% of the management positions are headed by women.   The list of OMFIF central banks with largest representation of women in management positions includes the Federal Reserve of San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis and Cleveland, central banks of Australia and Norway, and Serbia from the region.  The report states that there are only 22 central banks in the world headed by women (one more compared to the previous year) and this situation has almost been unchanged compared to 2013 when this index was introduced for the first time, which speaks of very slow changes in this area in the world of finance.   

The OMFIF index measures gender balance in 336 institutions, among which 186 central banks, 50 pension funds, 50 sovereign funds and 50 commercial banks worldwide, in accordance with the representation of man and women among employees, length of service, as well as their positions in the organization. According to the latest data, the gender balance is improving in all aforementioned institutions, yet at a slower pace by 1 to 2 points, while pension funds register the best result.  Out of 336 institutions only 14% are headed by women, which is a minor improvement in the result compared to 2021 and 2022 (13.3% and 13.7%).  The report states that at this pace it will take 140 years to close the gender gap. Hence, there is still much to do to improve the representation of women on management positions in finance worldwide.