bankers and asset managers will put forward their views on strategies for effective risk mitigation and how should asset managers prepare for the “ new normal ” in the converging monetary policies. session 4 will focus on south east europe and the perspectives of the region for european integration and growth. i am particularly delighted that we have prominent speakers and excellent panelists to address the topics of the conference. allow me to express my sincere gratitude to mr benoit cœure, executive board member of the ecb and mr. tao zhang, deputy managing director at the imf, for honoring us with their presence today. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches it is a pleasure to have mr. luiz awazu pereira da silva, deputy general manager at bis and governor gudmundsson to address the audience. i would also like to express my appreciation to all other distinguished panelists in the today ’ s sessions – deputy governors, representatives from international organizations, global banks and investors and other honorable speakers for contributing to the event. it is an honor to have mr. dragan tevdovski, minister of finance of the republic of macedonia and mr. vladislav goranov, minister of finance of the republic of bulgaria to give their reflections on see region perspectives. i look forward to your discussions and wish all the delegates an enjoyable and rewarding conference day. i thank you all for coming, particularly given that many of you had to travel long distances to come to skopje. i hope that all of you will enjoy the agenda and find the conference productive and worthwhile. in closing, i would like to thank all of those who have worked very hard to make this event happen. my most sincere thanks and appreciation goes to our co - organizer marc uzan, executive director of the reinventing bretton woods committee. marc ’ s work is wellrecognized among the global economic community. with the mission of promoting stability of international financial architecture and monetary system, he has organized roughly 100 seminars around the world facilitating dialogue among high - ranking officials, academics and market participants. i had the pleasure of attending some of his seminars and can only compliment to his expertise and passion to do great work at any time. marc, it is a true pleasure and privilege working with you. i hope that we will be able to do this again. please, the floor is all yours. thank you! 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

despite the political uncertainty present at that time. monetary policy remained accommodative, amid moderate inflation of 1. 5 % in the first four months of 2018, strong external position and gradual stabilization of market expectation. in march 2018, the main policy rate was reduced to 3 %, which is historically lowest level. deposit and credit growth of the banking sector continued, with revival in the lending to the corporate sector, accompanied with a decline of the npl ratio in the first quarter of 2018 to 5. 1 %, due to claims collection. current account deficit in 2017 additionally reduced to 1. 3 % of gdp, reflecting the positive contribution of the foreign capital companies on the export side, which indicates further strengthening of the economic fundamentals. regarding the recommendation from the last year ’ s dialogue, the central bank prepared draft strategies for npls management and strengthening the use of local currency, both agreed 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches with the ministry of finance and currently subject to consultation with other relevant stakeholders. in both areas, as already being confirmed in the assessments and final conclusions, we have already achieved tangible results ; however the adoption of these comprehensive strategies will put in place additional mechanisms to deal with these issues. in light of the challenging time that we have faced in recent years, we need to point to the maintenance of price and financial stability as important pillars of the macroeconomic stability, as well as the need to continue strengthening the fundamentals and resilience of the economy. implementation of structural reforms and strengthening institutional capacities, including sound public finances, should remain main priorities for faster income convergence and eu integration. thank you! 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches