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

andriy pyshnyy : national bank of ukraine press briefing - monetary policy decisions speech by mr andriy pyshnyy, governor of the national bank of ukraine, at a press briefing on monetary policy decisions, kyiv, 27 july 2023. * * * the board of the national bank of ukraine decided to cut the key policy rate to 22 %. rapid disinflation and sustained fx market conditions enabled the central bank to start the cycle of key policy rate cuts. taking into account an improvement in inflation expectations and inflation forecast, the current and forecast rate cuts conform to maintaining the attractiveness of hryvnia savings. this is an important element for ensuring exchange rate stability at the stage when fx restrictions are eased and the nbu makes the exchange rate more flexible. at the same time, reducing the key policy rate against the backdrop of sustained macrofinancial stability will support economic recovery. consumer inflation decelerated to 12. 8 % in june, which exceeded the nbu's expectations. in addition to the base effect, supply factors and a decrease in global energy prices played an important role. measures taken by the nbu – in particular, an increase in reserve requirements and a change in the operational design of monetary policy – also had a significant impact on price movements. these steps contribute to a significant increase in bank interest rates on term deposits and the strengthening of the cash exchange rate of the hryvnia. the nbu's aml / cft and currency supervision measures also contributed to fx market sustainability. the exchange rate factor eventually drove a decline in inflation and an improvement in expectations, which was also supported by the absence of monetary financing of the budget this year. having considered the favorable dynamics of h1, the nbu revised its 2023 inflation forecast significantly upward, from 14. 8 % to 10. 6 %. the growth in prices will slow due to a gradual decline in global inflation and monetary conditions remaining tight in ukraine. the nbu will safeguard sustainability of the fx market and keep hryvnia assets attractive enough. this will restrain price pressures. tariffs being frozen for the majority of utility services will play an important role. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches at the same time, further disinflation will be slower than in the previous months. this is driven by the waning of the base effect, returning to the pre - war level of the fuel tax, and the increase in electricity prices in