##ncy? a common denominator for all policy makers at the moment is the lingering uncertainty. many scenarios are in place, from smooth and orderly recovery, through strong rebound with price pressures, ending to stalled recovery amidst new and more virulent strains. from a central bank perspective, our advantage is that there is still policy room for maneuver, although narrowed. our policy rate is still in a positive territory at a level of 1. 25 %, alternative instruments are available for targeted actions, the level of foreign reserves remains comfortable and the banking system stable with npls ratio of only 3. 4 %, despite the pandemics shock and closure of a bank in the midst of the pandemics. of course we have to be vigilant, and not only of conventional side effects of " too loose for too long " stance, but also of the possible adverse feedback 1 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches loop between real and financial sector, as well as of the so called " zombification " risk. as complacency is not an option, shielding against those risks asks for further strengthening of the financial safety net, which will remain one of our priorities. thus, although still overwhelmed with the current challenges and the need for further policy support, we must not remain oblivious to the pre – pandemic strivings to increase the potential to grow faster, but in a sustainable and inclusive way. this requires gradual shifting of the focus back to the pre - crisis structural bottlenecks such as the quality of institutions, strengthening the rule of law, investing in human capital and in the potential to innovate, as well as to new structural hurdles that will be left as a legacy of the pandemics, which might not be even well known at the current juncture. clearly, we as central banks cannot play a main role in these segments, but perhaps a supporting one. in this context, despite many burning issues, we have managed to keep the focus on more structural issues such as digitalization by working on the first national fintech strategy, and on green finance by becoming a member of the international network for greening the financial system and conducting the first survey on the current status of the green finance. all these should ensure sustainable and inclusive recovery, while confirming our strong commitment to adopting the eu standards and best practices that should enable faster convergence. thank you! 2 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches

as well as the lower inflows and / or larger net foreign capital outflows create serious pressures over the value of national currencies. 2 ) macedonian economy, as we stated, is under a strong influence by the global macroeconomic developments. as almost everywhere in the world in our case as well the inflationary pressures fade and the economic growth decelerates because of the reduced external demand, contracted and more expensive financing sources and increased negative expectations of economic agents. the external sector imposes itself as a main problem of our macroeconomic policy. it is way too vulnerable, due to high presence of exports in sectors exposed to changes in world prices and world demand as well as due to significant reliance on private transfers as source for financing the trade deficit. additional problem is the approach to external financing. it is less available. expenses increased. investors have either lost their capital or they are waiting for better and less risky period. under such developments in the current and capital account of the balance of payments as well as due to generated unfavorable expectations of the economic agents the pressures in the foreign exchange markets become bigger. the fall in the external demand caused reduced activity among export - oriented industrial sector in the macedonian economy. the volume of the industrial output in the last quarter of 2008 registered an annual drop of 7. 6 percent, which intensified during january 2009, thus reaching 16. 7 percent. tightened conditions for credit as well as pesimistic expectations for the length of the recession reflect over domestic demand. initial signs of a deceleration of household consumption growth are registered in trade, in which during q4, 2008 the amount of turnover registered dropped by 5. 1 percent. in circumstances of private sector refraining from investments, the expectations are looking towards deceleration of the investment activity. in any case, the risks for the current projection of the economic growth definitely are in direction of the realization of growth significantly lower then projected, and maybe even that is a high optimism. in conditions of reduced import prices, the inflation continues to slow down, so that the average as well as the annual inflation rate for february equaled 1. 2 and 0. 7 percent, respectively. inflationary developments within the first two months of this year show that inflationary path for this period is under the projected one. such deviations, to a large extent may be explained with the fast decline of oil prices on world markets and with even faster deceleration of food prices. in conditions of risks for