Skopje, 7 March 2025 

“The success of every woman is an inspiration for another. Today we see many successful women around us who prove every day that dedication, perseverance and hard work are valued in society. According to some studies, women in leadership positions in central banks constitute a supporting pillar in addressing challenges”, says Governor Anita Angelovska Bezhoska in an interview for the agency Marili on the occasion of International Women's Day, in which she addresses several current macroeconomic topics as well as the women's leadership in times when our country is facing significant challenges. Moreover, despite the challenges, the National Bank is working dedicatedly on structural projects in several areas. This dedication of the National Bank team has been positively assessed by relevant international institutions, including the yesterday's decision of the European Payments Council to give positive assessment of our application and reported that we have become the 39th country that joined the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment schemes.

“Joining the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a historic step forward that will enable our banks, despite not being EU member, to access European payment systems. This process is expected to bring multiple benefits to the overall economy, which will certainly be most evident in terms of cost and time savings when making payments to European Union countries. Considering that currently, the costs for payments from the EU to Western Balkan countries are 12 times higher than the costs for payments between the EU countries, SEPA should contribute to more efficient, cost-effective and faster cross-border payments”, says Angelovska Bezhoska, emphasizing that for citizens, joining SEPA is particularly important for reducing remittance costs.

According to World Bank estimates, remittance costs are expected to decrease by around 3 percent, thus saving half a billion euros across the Western Balkans region. Remittance costs are currently being estimated at around 6.71 percent of total transaction.

“Joining SEPA is also expected to accelerate digital transformation of our financial sector. Reducing dependence on cash transactions and promoting digital payments supports the development of more modern, secure, flexible and inclusive financial ecosystem”, highlights Governor Angelovska Bezhoska in the interview for the agency Marili, addressing the need for better female access to finance and application of digitalization by women entrepreneurs, as well as development of female entrepreneurship in our country for the purpose of more complete and efficient use of all human potential and achieving greater economic growth.

Full interview: https://www.marili.com.mk/statija/?id=1441