do you expect it to be next year? the estimate for this year is about 7 percent, and for the next year it is somewhat higher. in which direction will the interest rates on loans and deposits move next year? the downward trend is likely to continue, although at a slower pace. the european central bank reduced the basic interest rate to 0. 75 percent in order to stimulate the economic growth. the national bank of the republic of macedonia maintains it at 3. 75 percent. why not reducing it down to 1 percent in our country, too, which will reduce the interest rates on loans as well? in a highly euroized economy as the macedonian, it is necessary to motivate economic agents to demand denars, not euros. therefore, interest rate parity on denars and euros must be kept at an appropriate level that stimulates the demand for denars. in the last three years we have reduced that parity from 8 percent to only 3 percent. further reduction is a process that depends on the resilience of the economy. macedonia will have to save more what are your expectations for the macedonian economy in 2013, which is expected to be perhaps more difficult and more turbulent than this year? what, according to you, will be the biggest economic challenges and problems next year? it will be another year full of uncertainty for the world and especially for the european economy. thus, the export demand for macedonian products is unlikely to improve. so, we cannot expect that to boost economic growth. however, our expectation for the economic growth in macedonia is to be much better than this year, driven by diversification of the production into new export - oriented facilities that started to work this year, or will start to work in the next year, as well as infrastructural facilities for which funding has already been secured from foreign sources. both politicians and economists globally are of a divided opinion in terms of the economic policy that should be conducted in order to emerge from the crisis. some advocate austerity, others encourage spending to stimulate growth. which policy you prefer and think is right for macedonia? according to me, those are “ false ” discussions. if a country has a room for increased spending, certainly now is the time to stimulate the economy. but unfortunately, there are not many such countries worldwide. developed economies were spending more than they could afford for years, and now they do not have any room for fiscal stimulus left. it is easy to say that now you have to

. clearly, then, in order to achieve real results, we must act on several fronts at once while bearing in mind the big picture. firstly, we have to create regulatory labour market instruments that combine employer flexibility and safety of the employee. moreover, such instruments should stimulate more active participation of different population groups in the labour market. i am thus thrilled that the keynote speech will shortly be delivered by professor werner eichhorst, one of the most prominent experts of labour market regulation policy in europe. it is also obvious that lithuania is in desperate need of long - term and far - sighted migration policy to both entice emigrants to return home and attract foreign workers. what is more, when discussing quantity, we should not forget quality, especially if we seek to prepare ourselves for technological changes and the impending fourth industrial revolution. what skills will be most in demand? no one knows. and anyone who thinks they do are probably mistaken. as the astronaut buzz aldrin once said, ‘ you promised me colonies on mars. and instead, i got... facebook ’. i take this to mean that we can only guess what the future has in store for us. which is why we have to move towards an educational system that is flexible and oriented towards lifelong learning, both formal and informal, including adult education and effective retraining. such a system is the only way to prepare our people for rapid structural change. lastly, we need a real regional policy – one that is effective and adequate for the current situation. one that would not only help maintain economic life throughout lithuania, but would also prompt a shift towards higher value - added economic activities. undoubtedly, education should have an especially important place in this policy in order to ensure equally good quality of education to all children in all parts of the country. in lithuania, schoolchildren in cities are ahead of their peers in rural areas by one year in assessment of their mathematics skills. this difference is two times larger than the average for the developed countries4. hence, we are not providing equal opportunities for young people to graduate from school, obtain high - level qualifications and find a well - paid job. and this is an especially unfair form of inequality of opportunities. it creates a vicious cycle : the number of jobs that ensure dignified income in rural regions is not increasing, at least not at a rate that we would like. yet, with the lack of a qualified labour force, investors who create high added - value are not coming to