##bilities in the total amount of usd 43. 3 million are projected to be paid in the last quarter of the year. at the end of september 2000, the short - term debt of the private sector of the republic of macedonia amounted to usd 42. 9 million, and compared to the end of 1999 was by usd 10. 8 million lower. the share of the external debt in gdp accounts for 42. 0 %, which ranks the republic of macedonia in the countries with moderate to medium degree of indebtedness. sound and stable banking system in the republic of macedonia in 2000, the banking sector of the republic of macedonia continued to recover from the adverse effects caused by the external shock in 1999. the share of high - risk credits in the total credit exposure of the banks in the first nine months of 2000 reduced by 4. 1 percentage points, however, still remaining high at the level of 37. 3 %. nevertheless, the high average capital adequacy ratio of 33. 8 % at the end of september 2000, positively affects the banking system stability, by far exceeding the required minimum of 8 %. significant investments of foreign capital in the macedonian banks was registered in the first six months of 2000, increasing the share of the foreign capital in the total banking capital from 19 % to 33. 3 %. in 2000, the legal framework regulating the banks ’ operations was subject to fundamental improvement. in that context, the newly adopted banking law in july 2000 is of great importance, in which preparation the national bank of the republic of macedonia had a considerable contribution. this law represents a step towards the harmonization with the european legislative and the european union directives and achieves greater degree of compliance with the so - called core basle principles for effective banking supervision. in november 2000, certain changes were made in the regulation on banks ’ foreign exchange operations, as well. with the new amendments of the regulation, the requirement for holding portion of the foreign exchange deposits collected by the banks on their accounts abroad was reduced. this measure is expected to have positive effect on the banks'credit supply in the economy. monetary policy in 2001 monetary policy projection for 2001 has been defined in the macroeconomic policy package incorporated in the arrangement with the international monetary fund. primarily, the 2001 monetary policy will be directed towards preservation of stable macroeconomic environment, as a precondition for achieving long - term sustainable economic growth. the projected economic growth will be supported through the adequate money and credits supply, simultaneously designing the monetary

anita angelovska bezhoska : enabling environment for capacity building opening speech by mrs anita angelovska bezhoska, vice - governor of the national bank of the republic of macedonia, at the center of excellence in finance ( cef ) coordinators meeting, skopje, 1 december 2010. * * * dear ladies and gentlemen, dear cef coordinators, distinguished representatives of central banks and ministries of finance in the region, dear representatives of the international monetary fund, international labor organization and, last but not least, dear organizers of this event, representatives of the cef ( center of excellence in finance ), i wish you all a warm welcome. i am delighted that this year the traditional meeting of the cef - coordinators takes place in the republic of macedonia and it is focused on a very important topic : “ enabling environment for capacity building ”. no doubts that the knowledge does not have boundaries. all of us, during our lifetime do try to compile as much wisdom as possible, to broaden our knowledge horizon and augment what we already know. in our professional life, we face a constant intellectual and public debate, which tries to challenge the existing paradigms, to offer new insights and to establish new norms. all of this, of course, for the purpose of building stronger intellectual and analytical capacity for efficiently coping with forthcoming professional challenges. sometimes, unprecedented events are needed to reveal the deficiencies in the currently accepted system of knowledge. these types of events underscore the weaknesses and pinpoint the missing parts of the puzzle. at the end of the day, out of turmoil, we all come out with new ideas, new concepts and new lessons to be learned and followed. or, to be more illuminating let me quote christopher adam and david vines – oxford university : “ … the great depression led keynes to write his general theory, thereby creating macroeconomics as a basis for national macroeconomic policy - making. the second world war led – via the bretton woods conference – to the creation of international macroeconomics, and to the birth of the imf … the present global financial crisis will, we think, most likely lead to a major shift in our understanding of the role of finance in macroeconomics, in both theory and in policy - making ”. the recent global economic and financial crisis indeed created a room for upgrade of what we knew or what we thought we knew. it clearly illustrated how fragile our knowledge can be emphasizing the need for a continuous capacity