national statistical offices altered their calendar of publication and data dissemination ; and very importantly 4 ) many offices were adapting 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches and responding to new data needs by changing collection modes, using alternative data sources, adding covid related questions, as well as reducing content and samples of surveys. these challenges have been equally relevant for central banks, being one of the pillars of the statistical production systems. we as a central bank also vested enormous efforts making many adjustments in data collection, production and communication process that helped us smoothing the pandemics effect on the production and dissemination of statistics. the pandemic in the initial phase tested the resilience of the statistical system, i. e., the ability to continue with timely supply of statistical data. but it also created demand pressures for new data that was not produced by the official statistics. data on the epidemiological curve became highly needed as they are leading indicator on how the economy will evolve and how economic and social policies should be calibrated. at the same time, there has been growing demand for real - time high - frequency data on the economy, as many of the historical systematic linkages that policy decisions were based on were broken. for instance, we have been intensively using google mobility data during the lockdowns to assess the behaviour of consumers. we have also leveraged on the private sector data for payment card transactions, as an indicator to assess the personal consumption dynamics and its structure. although highly useful, the abundance of data also poses a challenge for statisticians, as accentuated by the health crisis. as we go further down the road, the need for quick and granular data, for example on the changes of the economic behaviour of the agents, the longer term scarring to the economy, or the impact of the policy actions on economy will be a " must ". but data from different decentralised sources are not structured, there is a lack of transparency in methodology, no representativeness, and no use of international standards, concepts and semantics. hence, there is a need to streamline the wealth of information to structured, understandable, shareable and most of all, reliable data of the future. the latter is prerequisite to preclude devaluation of the data, and statistics plays a critical role in preserving the value of data. in the new era when we have open access to multiple sources of information, it is not enough official statistics to be disse

dimitar bogov : seventy years of central banking activities in the republic of macedonia speech by mr dimitar bogov, governor of the national bank of the republic of macedonia, at the ceremony of marking 70 years of central banking activities in the republic of macedonia and order award by his excellency dr gjorge ivanov, president of the republic of macedonia, skopje, 19 october 2016. * * * honorable president of the republic of macedonia, your excellency, dr. gjorge ivanov, distinguished members of parliament and representatives of the government, honored excellencies, esteemed guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure and honor, on behalf of the national bank of the republic of macedonia and on my own behalf, to express my sincere gratitude to his excellency, the president dr. gjorge ivanov for the high recognition he has awarded to the national bank tonight. i would also like to thank all of you for being present at the celebration that marks this great anniversary. it is a great honor to be awarded the “ order of merits for macedonia ” by the head of state, in the year when the national bank celebrates 70 years of central banking activities in the republic of macedonia. this award is a great recognition for the overall work of the national bank. it is strong confirmation of the enormous contribution of the bank to the state all these decades – as a central institution of the monetary system and a key pillar of macroeconomic stability. these 70 years, the national bank has gone through various stages of transformation and evolutionary development. it has operated in various systems of social and political order. over the years, it changed both its name and address. it has gradually acquired competencies and built its functions. with the constitution of independent macedonia and the declaration of monetary autonomy, it established itself as an institution – carrier of the functions of a modern central bank. today, i can proudly say that the national bank has grown into a modern and highly professional institution, enjoying credibility domestically, and appreciated and recognized internationally. the national bank has been maintaining price stability in the macedonian economy for 20 years through a stable exchange rate. the inflation rate in the past 20 years has averaged about 2 %, which is a level comparable to developed countries, placing us among the most successful economies in transition. the financial stability has been successfully maintained by promoting sound, safe and competitive banking sector that successfully defy risks and delivers robust credit growth. by achieving these two legally delegated objectives, the national