is under no such compulsion ”. and ever since then, the absence of an effective symmetric framework of obligations on both debtor and creditor countries has led to periodic crises. the obstacle to the creation of a binding framework is clear. governments know whether they are debtors or creditors today. so a framework that has economic and indeed moral force when seen from behind the “ veil of ignorance ”, as suggested by john rawls, is unlikely to appeal to governments. should we conclude, therefore, that in the absence of a world government, the identification of “ new rules of the game ” is likely to be no more than a theoretical exercise? certainly, the fate of keynes ’ proposal for an international clearing union is not encouraging. but the experience of the past twenty years shows that large imbalances mean that everyone suffers when there is a sharp adjustment. so there is scope, if not for formal international policy coordination, then for an international conversation about how to improve a system that is fragile. central banks were able to ensure, for a while, that the paths of output were sustainable – consistent with low and stable inflation. but the patterns of demand were far from sustainable. and when the sharp adjustment to demand eventually came, it inevitably had implications for the level of output. reform of the imfs, and of our domestic financial systems, is a necessary complement to the domestic price stability oriented policy frameworks of central banks. the immediate issue of how to move to a more sustainable position requires a resolution of different countries ’ economic strategies for rebalancing. there can be only one path for rebalancing – with rebalancing in the deficit economies, by definition, just a mirror of that in the surplus countries. but the path that would be chosen by high - saving economies differs from that which the more indebted industrialised economies would prefer. their need to deleverage and reduce borrowing means that if another abrupt adjustment is to be avoided, they cannot risk taking too long to rebalance their economies. in contrast, many of the emerging economies continue to require rapid economic growth and abundant employment opportunities in their export industries to ensure adequate levels of employment for their vast populations. as a result, policymakers in countries like china quite simply see limits to the extent and speed at which they should expand the share of domestic demand in their economies. they do not want to rebalance their economies too quickly. of course, ex post there must be consistency between these two strategies as demand in

anita angelovska bezhoska : the republic of macedonia has accessed the highest statistical data dissemination standard of the imf - sdds plus address by ms anita angelovska bezhoska, governor of the national bank of the republic of macedonia, at the event marking the adherence of the republic of macedonia to the imf ’ s special data dissemination standard ( sdds ) plus, skopje, 1 february 2019. * * * dear ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure that the idea which at the national level was initiated by the national bank of the republic of macedonia several years ago, and accepted and actively supported by the state statistical office and the ministry of finance, today is already a reality. on 28 january this year, the republic of macedonia officially became a member of the highest statistical standard of the international monetary fund – sdds plus. we have jointly succeeded our country to become part of an international data dissemination initiative, which so far included only seventeen countries, including the united states, canada, france, germany, austria, italy, sweden, japan... the republic of macedonia is the eighteenth country in the world, the second from southeast europe, and the first among the countries of the region that are still not members of the european union. this successful project is a clear confirmation of the commitment of the three institutions for the continuous upgrading of national statistics and their harmonization with the latest, highest international statistical standards. what actually does this standard represent? as emphasized by the director of the state statistical office, mr. apostol simovski, the republic of macedonia has long been integrated into the system of the so - called imf ’ s data standards initiatives. this system is extremely dynamic and started to develop since the mid - 1990s, in response to the then international financial crisis, in order to promote transparency of both economic and financial data. i say dynamic, given that its construction blocks have been continuously changing and increasing. its last, third construction block is the sdds plus which reflects the weaknesses identified in the statistical data infrastructure that surfaced with the latest global economic and financial crisis from 2008. it is a fact that the genesis of the crisis was not located in the lack of data, but fact is also the identified need for an enriched data set for conducting more effective economic policies. this crisis has clearly shown how inadequate regulation and excessive risk - taking can lead to a collapse of the financial system. it has shown how the underestimation of the strength of the