ana mitreska : address a€ “ celebrating the world savings day address by ms ana mitreska, vice governor of the national bank of the republic of north macedonia, at the celebrating the world savings day, organised by the macedonian banking association, skopje, 29 october 2021. * * * dear minister of finance, mr. fatmir besimi, dear director of the deposit insurance fund, mr. amir shabani, dear president of the macedonian banking association, ms. maja stevkova sterieva, dear colleagues, thank you for the invitation and the opportunity given on behalf of the central bank to address this event, which marks the world savings day. looking back at the genesis and essence of the celebration of this day, it is interesting to see that the understanding of " savings as a manifestation of the maturity of individuals, but also societies as a whole ", is in its basis. many aspects are founded in this thesis, such as the financial literacy of each individual, the confidence in the institutions, the development of the economy and the capacity to save, the responsibility of those who manage savings and direct them to productive goals to increase the potential of the entire economy. for the second consecutive year, we are celebrating the world savings day in pandemic conditions and from there i will address several main issues that are especially relevant due to the prolonged health crisis. first, what are the consequences of the pandemic on the volume of savings and its structure? second, do the new circumstances change the investment behavior of the population and what consequences may it have on the financial stability? third, what are the processes that accelerated and surfaced due to the pandemic, and which are also an opportunity for productive use of savings and financial support of sustainable projects by the financial sector? unlike other crisis episodes, the pandemic has actually increased savings and this process is a global phenomenon. in the developed countries, the estimated excess savings in 2020 was nearly 7 % of gdp, showing that savings were higher in the pandemic, than in normal circumstances. in the region of the western balkans, the rates of domestic savings measured as the difference between the generated income and the total private sector and government consumption registered a slight decrease of around 3 percentage points of gdp, but in conditions of a strong fiscal consumption for support of the economies. this means that private sector savings, despite the great recession, it is very likely that they remained relatively stable or grew. there are three reasons that contribute

, particularly in the non - manufacturing sector, but also to keep a close eye on the extent to which companies ’ views regarding the economic outlook become more bullish as the recovery continues. outlook for prices and the conduct of monetary policy the japanese economy has been in a recovery phase since the summer of 2003. domestic corporate goods prices have been rising partly due to high crude oil prices. consumer prices, however, have been on a slightly declining trend due to the fact that the rise in corporate goods prices has mostly been offset by higher productivity and labor cost restraint. the bank has been providing ample liquidity in accordance with its commitment to continuing with the quantitative easing policy until the year - on - year rate of change in the consumer price index ( excluding fresh food prices, on a nationwide basis ) registers zero percent or higher on a sustainable basis. the positive impact of the commitment on the economy, acting via interest rates, has increased as the economic recovery has progressed. this impact is expected to become stronger as corporate profits continue to increase in line with the economic recovery. the bank ’ s thinking on the future conduct of monetary policy was explained in the outlook for economic activity and prices published in october 2004. the bank said that if higher productivity and other factors continue to broadly contain the upward pressure on prices as the economy follows a sustainable and balanced growth path, this will give the bank more latitude in conducting monetary policy. here, the “ conduct of monetary policy ” includes monetary policy decisions relating to the timing of the termination of the current monetary policy framework and the pace at which the bank will raise short - term interest rates to keep them consistent with economic conditions at the time. if prices remain less responsive to increased economic activity, the bank can more flexibly and effectively respond to emerging economic situations. for example, it could choose to continue with the quantitative easing policy as long as possible, or it could choose to raise interest rates at a moderate pace after the termination of the policy. whatever policy option is chosen in the future, it seems unlikely that the bank will be required to take precipitate action. it is in this sense that it enjoys “ latitude ” in making monetary policy decisions. as an end to the quantitative easing policy approaches, the bank will further endeavor to offer a lucid explanation of its assessment of the economic situation as well as the thinking behind its conduct of monetary policy. furthermore, the bank will continue to enhance its communication with market participants so that they will be better able to predict the conduct of