, implementation of contracts. the latest transition report of the ebrd also refers to the areas where greater efforts are required. in fact, there are few segments where there is complete convergence to the setup in the developed market economies. the energy sector, infrastructure and financial sector ( particularly in the part of providing additional funding through the capital market ) are highlighted areas where further reforms are needed. the last aspect, i. e. the deepening of the capital market is a very important element in the growth pattern. currently, the main source of funding are either companies ’ own funds or bank loans. alternative financing by providing funds through the capital market is limited, as confirmed by the low share of the stock exchange turnover in gdp, which on average in the period 2010 – 2013 totaled 1. 5 % of gdp. in this context, a significant support could be provided by international financial institutions. all in all, in our views, solid economic growth higher than 4 % is expected also in the next two years. the main growth factors are the present and the announced foreign investments, as well as the fiscal impetus in the infrastructure, which are key determinants of the growth of investments and exports. credit support and growth in demand and price of labor are considered factors that will support also the private consumption. the risks around the baseline scenario are mainly downward and depend on the external environment. however, what is crucial is to increase the development potential and productivity of the economy in the long run, wherefore it is especially important to continue the plan for structural reforms, particularly in the already established vulnerable areas. bis central bankers ’ speeches

, through the increased number of investments in infrastructure projects. large investments in road, rail and energy infrastructure are, on the one hand, an important impetus for growth in the short run, while on the other, they improve the competitiveness of the economy and contribute to the increase in the potential growth. the public sector share in the investments during the crisis has increased ( from 20 % in 2007 to 34 % in 2010 ), offsetting the smaller investments from the private sector and providing positive stimulus for the economy. it is expected that government ’ s announcements of infrastructure projects will continue to provide significant support for the growth in the medium term. what is also important is that the growth in recent years has created preconditions for improving the conditions in the labor market. the number of employees has grown steadily since the beginning of 2012, with the growth being especially pronounced during 2013 ( over 4 % ) on an annual basis, as a combination of the labor demand by new companies ( the number of companies with a large number of employees began to grow faster exactly in 2013 ), the active measures on the labor market, and the gradual intensification of the activity of the rest of the economy. the unemployment rate, though still high, is constantly declining and according to the latest data it is 27. 9 %. what is important is that its reduction is a combination of the decline in the number of unemployed persons, and the larger number of active population. the participation rate reached 57. 3 %, which is an upward adjustment of about 1 percentage point compared to 2008 and is a sign of the positive perceptions of the conditions on the labor market. as expected, the indicators of productivity and unit labor costs also register positive movements starting from this year ( increase in productivity and decline in costs by about 2 % on average in 2014 ). although these indicators are still less favorable compared with the pre - crisis performances, given the growth of the economy, this gap is gradually decreasing. in the medium term we expect further narrowing of the gap. the banking system provides additional credit flows in the economy, whereby it actively supports the economic growth. unlike other countries, where credits extended to the private sector reduced in certain periods after the crisis, in macedonia credit flows were constantly growing and currently credits are 1. 5 times higher than before the crisis. the average credit growth from 2008 to 2014 was almost 6 % which is well above the average for the region of about 1. 8 %, and certainly above the average for the euro