anita angelovska bezhoska : efforts for further development of the financial education and improving the financial literacy among the population address by ms anita angelovska bezhoska, governor of the national bank of the republic of north macedonia, at the meeting with the teaching staff on the occasion of the european money quiz, skopje, 22 february 2019. * * * dear deputy minister of education and science, dear president of the macedonian banking association, dear teachers, dear guests, first of all, please allow me to greet and welcome all of you here in the national bank. this is the first such meeting, which i hope will become a regular practice in the future, within our efforts for further development of the financial education and improving the financial literacy among the population in our country. the global financial crisis that arouse from the deficient regulation of the financial system, as well as from the poor financial knowledge of the population, clearly emphasized the necessity for additional efforts in the financial education segment. therefore, in the global context of the postcrisis period, the policy - makers, including central banks, undertake numerous activities, making financial education an integral part of central banking operations. being aware of the importance of financial literacy, both for each individual and for the society as a whole, the national bank has been undertaking activities in the field of financial education for the younger population for many years, and many students from primary and secondary schools, of course, together with their teachers, have already visited our bank. this enables to gain broader knowledge about our operations ( what are the main goals and tasks of the central bank, what are the instrument we use for their realization and the challenges for achieving and preserving the macroeconomic stability ). through our publications and interactive games in the field of finance, we try to attract the interest of the youngest generations to get acquainted with terms such as saving, investment, inflation, etc., while through the rich collection of coins in our numismatic museum, to get acquainted with the history of our money. in the future we will continue to enrich the spectrum of activities in the field of financial education, by including the elderly population, as well. within these frameworks, we are particularly pleased with the exceptions engagement of the banks in the field of financial education of the youth in the country, as a relatively new area of activity and one of the recent challenges in the financial area. more active involvement of banks in this area verifies their increased social responsibility,

##equacy and liquidity are at exceptionally high levels. the net external borrowing of the country decreased by euro 220 million only in the last quarter of the last year, and by euro 280 million, or by one fourth, over the entire last year. finally, immediately prior to our decision to redesign the monetary instruments, the ministry of finance announced cut of budget expenses by 5 %. to summarize, we face low level of risk in the external and the banking sector, low to moderate level of risk in the public sector, the denar exchange rate is stable, the inflation is lower than in the euro area, and the economic activity decelerates. what would be more suitable in a situation like this than to send signal that there are conditions for enhanced banking activity without jeopardizing the stability? this is exactly the goal of our measures. it is not our intention just to conclude that the credit growth does not develop as expected, and to revise the rate downward all over again. we consider that the credit growth could range around 7 – 8 % without jeopardizing price and financial stability, and we clearly signalize this. bis central bankers ’ speeches the question is whether the banks will follow our signal? the promptness and intensity of banks ’ response depend on the power of monetary policy transmission. the recent researches conducted by my coworkers show that the power of monetary policy transmission in our banking system is limited. this was yet another reason to redesign the monetary policy instruments. we hope that the new monetary framework will improve the monetary transmission. otherwise, we will keep on advancing the monetary instruments setup. cb bills are the national bank basic instrument used to absorb excess liquidity by banks. cb bills are not investment vehicles. in many countries there are no cb bills. when the national bank intends to absorb more liquidity it could make the interest rate more attractive for the banks. but, if it considers that it should not sterilize such excess liquidity, it will make the interest rate less attractive or will restrict the amount allowed for the banks to subscribe. distinguished ladies and gentlemen, at this very conference last year, i also said that the national bank will not build its relations with the banks from the position of arrogance. quite contrary, the banks are our partners. therefore, the national bank will keep on informing and consulting with the commercial banks about the regulatory measures. in this respect, presently we analyze the latest request of the banking association concerning the treatment of fore