last year. according to the un study, the decrease was more prominent among women than men ; especially among women in rural areas, and among women 35 – 44 years of age. although wage data is still not available to see how the covid crisis has affected this wage gap that existed even in the pre - crisis period, some indicators point out that probably the wage gap has widened throughout this period. for example, in north macedonia assessment is that the wage gap has hovered throughout the range of 16 – 20 %, which is already large. apparently, the crisis has hit women and men unevenly, which is a natural consequence of the fact that it did not hit all the sectors equally. it had more pronounced effect on the services, especially services dependent on social interaction, and informal economy where women tend to be presented more. for example, in our country these sectors employ about 27 % of all employed women and about 25 % of all employed men. in addition, according to some studies, the makenzie study for instance, point out that pandemics have intensified the challenges that women already face at the workplace – doing double work shifts, being at work, being at home with family responsibilities, and find that 1 in 4 women consider downshifting their careers because of family responsibilities and new covid environment ( interruption in schooling and childcare ). these developments, such as lower employment and lower income, can negatively affect access to finance, to the financial system, especially banking system, as employment and income are one of the main criteria assessing the credit worthiness of the borrowers and can further amplify the risks or the challenges for women. let me mention couple of numbers. for the western balkan region, about 60 % of all borrowers from commercial banks are men and only 40 % are women. and even more, 64 % of all outstanding loans are extended to men. i think this number gives a flavor of the kind of challenges women face across the region. the access to finance is an important determinant, not only for the basic needs, but also for female entrepreneurship that lacks in the region in comparison to more advance economies. overall, all the numbers that were discussed, clearly point that unlike other previous crisis episodes, this one has definitely disproportionately affected women in many respects, additionally accentuating the challenges that women have faced even before the crises. particularly worrisome is the further increase of inactivity of women as the region faces shrinking working age

loans in the period ahead. upward shifts are also possible in our country, but for the time being the stress tests show sufficient resilience of the banking system, in conditions of a strong regulatory framework, cautious behavior of banks and signs of economic recovery. the central bank's policy is currently relaxed, thereby contributing to favorable conditions of financing and economic recovery, in circumstances when we have enough comfort in the foreign reserves to respond to possible shocks. of course, given the uncertain environment, we constantly and carefully follow the trends of all indicators, relevant to the monetary policy. at the moment, almost in all countries, the growth of savings increases the sources of funding for banks and their capacity to support the economy, especially at the points that will meet the new post - pandemic requirements and will increase the growth potential. the transition to a green economy is undoubtedly one of the issues that with the pandemic has moved from the margins to the core of priorities. the preferences of both consumers and investors are changing globally and the " appetite " for the so - called green technologies and business models is growing. amid such fundamental, global structural changes, our competitiveness as an economy will also depend on the ability for rapid transition to infrastructure that will provide " green stamp " products. on the contrary, the possibility to be competitive in both the product markets and in the access to financing will be small, and the costs high. the financial support from the banking system can significantly accelerate this transition and help in increasing the competitiveness of the domestic economy. probably faster than expected, the world found itself at crossroads when it should accelerate the structural changes, accelerate the transition to a digital and green economy, enable sustainable, post - pandemic global recovery. the role of the financial sector in this respect is great, since the capacity of the entire economy to deal with the new challenges will largely depend on its stability and readiness for financial support. finally, on behalf of the national bank, allow me to congratulate the savings day, and to send special congratulations to this year's plaque winners - recognitions for achieved special results in the performance of the work tasks. thank you! 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches