nine indicators, in april 2017, the nbrm officially launched the initiative to join this highest data dissemination standard. at that time, we were already sure that we passed the right path and that we came within an ace of attaining our goal – to the moment that we mark with today ’ s event. dear ladies and gentlemen, on a global scale, it has long been resolved that quality data dissemination is key to use the benefits of statistics. therefore, i can say for certain that 28 january 2019 is a date of historical significance for the macedonian statistical system. but also for the macedonian economy, because it now has an opportunity to be one of the eighteen economies in the world that have a set of statistical indicators according to the highest international data dissemination standard. our cooperative journey to the sdds plus does not end here. we will have to fight off more challenges. we need to continue to work with the same commitment as so far to deliver the other four indicators. we are already actively working in this field and some of these data, in particular the data on the sectoral financial accounts produced by the nbrm, have been experimentally submitted to eurostat. i am sure that we will successfully reach our final destination. we have a vision, we have teams of responsible professionals who work every day to achieve the goals set by the sdds plus, we have excellent interinstitutional cooperation... and all this, which is also necessary to build and develop modern and quality statistics, guarantees us that we will succeed to the end. thank you. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

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