Skopje, 31 May 2023 

The National Bank, along with its commitment to the development of the institutional capacity of its employees, also shares its knowledge, professional experience and best practices in areas that are a challenge for other institutions in the Southeastern European countries and beyond. The manager of the Statistics Department at the National Bank, Snezhana Janeska Popovska, participated as a lecturer in the Financial Statistics Workshop, organized by the Center for Excellence in Finance (CEF), an international organization that functions as a center for knowledge exchange and cooperation in our constituency. The topics discussed at the Workshop referred to the various practical and conceptual aspects of the compilation of financial accounts statistics, with reference to sectors and financial instruments, the consistency of national sectoral accounts, sources of statistical data, the preparation of data on situations and flows, through experiences of several European central banks, the ECB and the IMF.

In the presentations titled "From whom to whom - a practical solution for compiling financial accounts statistics" and "Securities by securities - for calculating debt securities and capital", Janeska Popovska addressed the key aspects related to the financial accounts statistics prepared by the National Bank. It was discussed about the statistics development by setting up a modern approach "from whom to whom" which enables a detailed review of financial links based on intersectoral financial instruments in the national economy, as well as with the sector abroad. Within the presentations, Janeska Popovska addressed the challenges and practical solutions in the process of compiling financial accounts, the strengthening of inter-institutional cooperation, methodological aspects, data sources and the technical system. In the second presentation, the significance of the integrated and granular approach in the collection and compilation of data on securities was emphasized, with reference to the steps taken by the National Bank to provide these data, as well as the practical solutions for the calculation of two financial instruments: debt securities and shares.

At the Workshop, the participants have shown great interest in the practical steps for compiling financial accounts in the National Bank, exchanging mutual opinion and experience within the presentations. It enabled to profound the knowledge of the participants and gave a broader picture of the further steps for the development of financial accounts in several central banks in the region.

The Financial Statistics Workshop is one of a series of educational events in the field of central banking operations organized by CEF, and the participation of the National Bank represents another positive example of the long-term successful cooperation between the two institutions.