are no longer so much under the bis central bankers ’ speeches influence of this phenomenon. the latest data on the increased saving in denars, compared to saving in euros, point to this conclusion. the expectation that the stable exchange rate level will be maintained simultaneously indicates that the difference between real interest rates in denars and real interest rates in euros continues to decrease gradually, certainly without any of them remaining on negative territory for a longer time. the national bank will continue not to hesitate to intervene in the foreign exchange market and increase the interest rate on the main instrument which represents an operational signal. through these policies the national bank confirms its capacity and institutional determination. market participants recognize this successful defense of the exchange rate in the past fifteen years, although in a short run any change may cause, through the transmission effects, only temporary increase of the nominal, and thus of real interest rates in the economy. a logical consequence of all this is that a possible reflation in the eurozone means that the republic of macedonia will not become an isolated island doomed to disinflation and, vice versa, that if the euro continues to prove effective in delivering low inflation in the eurozone, in the republic of macedonia internal depreciation will be the preferred course of adjustment. the differences between inflation rates in the republic of macedonia and the eurozone will remain temporary and limited. in fact, this marks the success of the stable exchange rate as an intermediate target of the monetary policy which consists of the aforementioned difference of 0. 2 percentage points between the inflation in the republic of macedonia and the inflation in the eurozone. in the long run, this enables economic agents to have more definite expectations about the general price level and denotes support to the economic environment. in such monetary policy setting it should be noted that the national bank, as a public institution, constantly needs to cooperate with the government without undermining the autonomy of any of these two institutions. from the perspective of the national bank, this means that the government is trying to anticipate the policies that we implement to maintain the level of the exchange rate and it takes them into consideration when adopting the budget. it is clear that the national bank and the government may adopt essentially good decisions in their respective spheres of action if they cooperate even during the discussions which precede the decisions. the cooperation with the government would also be in terms of creating conditions for the social dialogue to take into account the challenge we face in conducting the monetary policy. this actually means that the inflationary

the fintech, and increasingly adopted by banks, consumers and merchants nowadays have a wide range of payment products to choose from. innovation developments, such as instant payments, payment initiation services, person - to - person mobile payments and contactless proximity payments have the digitization process accompanied by innovative solutions in their essence. the payment innovations and digitization process also have an impact on the transformation of payment market infrastructures. these developments, however, have raised various issues related to the requirements for bank openness, customer security, transparency and trust in the payment services market as well as consumer rights protection. consequently, the regulators have to adopt appropriate legislative framework that supports digitalization, innovation and competition, but also take care of security and protection. in this context, it can be noticed that the european union is a global leader in this domain. by revising the payment services directive ( psd2 ), the european union enables stronger competition and 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches innovation by allowing entrance of fintech payment service providers that will eventually lead to greater choice and better prices for consumers, it will fosters cyber resilience of the payment service providers as well as enhance protection of payment services users. in this way, the european union created a sound legal framework for digitalized payments landscape that enhances the integration of the single payment. at the same time, it sets an example for other countries around the world how to support digitalization trends by balancing between innovation and competition, on the one hand, and security and protection, on the other hand. the new regulatory framework implies that banks will no longer only be competing against banks, but everyone offering financial services, i. e. the customers will be able to create a set of providers of different financial services instead of relining on one bank for all services. the belief that nonbank fintech companies will play a significant role in the future financial landscape is well established if we look at investments in fintech industry. the cumulative investments globally have more than ten - doubled the last five years and are estimated to exceed $ 150bn the next 3 - 5 years. this, in addition to changed customer expectation and increased digitalisation, may be the reason why today we are witnessing a trend of stronger cooperation between banks and fintechs, including in the area of innovation labs. the new technologies, such as blockchain and distributed ledger technology, though young and still - evolving, show the potential of restructuring financial industry, even encouraging discussions for cashless society