Skopje, 14 December 2024
The Plan of Activities for 2025 has been adopted-focus on the primary goals and development activities for further building of the National Bank institutional capacity
The National Bank Council has adopted the Plan of Activities for 2025, which will initiate the realization of the new annual cycle of activities and projects in accordance with the legal competences and strategic areas envisioned for the next three years in the new Strategic Plan of the National Bank. The continuous monitoring of the contemporary trends and practices remains in the National Bank focus within its regular activities related to the legal competences in the areas of monetary policy conduct, banking system soundness, foreign reserves management, economic research and statistics, payment system efficiency and cash management. The regular work processes and projects planned for 2025 introduce changes in the operations in order to increase efficiency, quality, transparency and reliability, compliance with the new legal requirements and international standards.
Besides the regular activities, the Plan of Activities for 2025 includes development activities and projects that the National Bank will proactively work on within the five strategic areas. Within the first strategic area, the National Bank is committed to promoting central-banking functions in order to maintain stability and build a modern central bank. Thus, the accent is set on the improvement of the framework for monetary policy conduct, research capacities, foreign reserves management and strengthening of the stability and resilience of the banking system, supervision, bank resolution and consumer protection. The National Bank will further encourage innovation in payment systems, payment services, using the permanent technological progress to improve efficiency and security in financial transactions. Special attention will be paid to activities that should enable our country’s accession to the Single European Payment Area (SEPA), which would lead to cheaper, faster and easier payments for companies and citizens.
Within the second strategic area, special attention is paid to innovations and developing new skills in order to support digital transformation, rationalization of the work processes, increased efficiency in operations and advancement of data management knowledge and analytical capabilities, by harnessing the power of cutting-edge technologies. The National Bank will continue to work on number of projects in the area of statistics, such as developing an integrated accounting and supervisory reporting system and data warehouse, developing an integrated accounting system, digitalization and automation of vault operations, as well as developing information technology, which will further transform the central bank into a modern and agile institution.
The program activities in the third strategic area emphasize the constant commitment to promote transparency and cooperation. In this area, financial education is in the spotlight, aimed at increased financial education and inclusion which involves number of activities. The Plan of Activities includes The Strategy for Financial Education and Financial Inclusion of the Republic of North Macedonia for the period 2021 - 2025, which means involvement of, i.e. consultation with all stakeholders.
Pursuing the slogan for the next three years, in the fourth strategic area, the National Bank will undertake activities to build sustainable and green economy, increasing awareness of climate change and strengthen its own capacities to deal with these challenges. The program includes activities that continue the implementation of the Medium-Term Climate Change Action Plan for 2023 - 2025. In that context, adoption of the National Bank Sustainability Policy is expected, as a contribution to building sustainable society. In addition, we will actively work on the stress-testing process to assess the banking system resilience to climate risks, as well as gradual active inclusion of climate risks in the assessment of banks’ risk profile.
The program activities in the fifth strategic area include aspects of improved internal processes and resilience to global challenges and threats, as well as proper financial and non-financial risk management, in times of significant global challenges and volatile environment. Strengthening the information security, resilience to cyberthreats and ensuring business continuity in the changing environment will be areas taking the spotlight during 2025. In this light, among other things, the preparation of the Cyber Resilience Strategy 2026-2028 is planned.
All activities planned for 2025 will set grounds for successful implementation of the National Bank’s vision, to be recognized as an independent, responsible, professional, innovative and transparent institution, which uses its integrity and credibility to support and build public confidence.