The macroeconomic reasons for the occurrence of the current crisis could further be divided into two groups: a) problems related to unbalances in the international claims and b) problems caused by the maintenance of low real interest rates over a longer period. The first group of macroeconomic reasons includes unbalances in the current accounts of balance of payments among economies, which, in turn, brought about unbalances between the capital accounts. In that process of creating unbalances, especially in the decade before the crisis, the capital spilled over from the developing countries to the developed economies, particularly to the US. The second group of macroeconomic reasons resulted from the excessively long maintenance of low real interest rates. The historically low real short-term interest rates actually reflected adjustable anti-deflation monetary policy. The low long-term interest rates, on the other hand, largely reflected the high savings rate in the capital-exporting countries, particularly in the Asian developing countries and several oilexporting countries. These countries, seeking for sound financial instruments to place their savings, increased the demand for long-term government securities issued by the governments of the developed countries, thus contributing towards reduction of the long-term interest rates. The low interest rates had multiple effects, including the acceleration of the credit growth in a number of industrial countries, swift growth in the prices of properties and share; and generally, taking high risks during the contest for generating higher earnings. The financial crisis, however, demonstrated that there are serious problems in the area of microeconomics, as well.

The banks solvency (shown through the capital adequacy ratio, which equaled 16.4% on June 30,2009) is evidently beyond the prescribed minimal level of 8%, which provides enough capacity to absorb the possible negative shocks from further increase in the risks in their operating. However, the banks in the Republic of Macedonia face with several challenges. The consequences of the global economic crisis, which was felt in the Republic of Macedonia through the real sector, had negative influence also on the banking system. First, the reduced economic activity and the enhanced psychological pressures arising from the uncertainty regarding the duration and the consequences of the international economic crisis, reflected on the banks' balance sheets. In the first half of 2009, the banks' total assets reduced by 0.9%, with the annual growth rate reducing to only 3%. The decrease in the assets was reflection of the deposit core contraction, which went down by 2.4% in the same period, because of which the annual rate of change obtained negative value and on June 30, 2009 it equaled 0.1%. Only the banks' credit activity continued to expand, although with very slower dynamics relative to the preceding years. In the first quarter of 2009, the credit growth equaled only 1.7%, while the annual growth rate on June 30, 2009 reduced to 14.4%. Parallel to the lower volume of activities, also the currency propensity of the banks' depositors was changed. They were apparent through their enhanced interest for saving in currency component.