Skopje, 25 December 2021
Faster and sustainable economic growth of the country is possible, if the growth potential is increased, and that can be achieved only through structural policies that will positively affect the three factors on which the long-term growth depends - labor, physical volume of capital and productivity. Regardless of the challenges related to the pandemic, we must not leave the structural reforms aside - the process of removing structural obstacles must take place uninterruptedly, says the Governor of the National Bank, Anita Angelovska Bezhoska in an interview with “Capital”.
“According to the latest available data, our productivity is only about 44% of the European one, the volume of physical capital only around one third of the European one, and there is also a trend of fall in the increase of labor. These figures clearly express where the efforts of policy makers should be directed”, says the Governor.
Angelovska Bezhoska points out that the corona-crisis emphasized even more the old, and also detected new structural problems which brought to a question the sustainability of certain business models in the post-pandemic period, as well as the need for reclassification of labor, changes in the professional profiles on the labor market with new “professions of the future”, and all that in the context of the accelerated digitalization.
In her interview, the Governor underlines that small economies, like ours, cannot grow rapidly without major trade and financial integration. Therefore, the further entry of multinational corporations is especially important to us, which will contribute to increasing the export potential, will improve the export structure, as well as the productivity and competitiveness.
“In this context, there is also a need for stronger connection of foreign with domestic companies, in order to increase the positive transmission effects on the overall economy. An important prerequisite for greater integration are certainly the public investments aimed at improvements of the economic, social and digital infrastructure. In this way, one will provide not only higher, but also more quality growth driven by technologically sophisticated and innovative sectors”, says Angelovska Bezhoska.