this year, due to the financial stimulus we are forecasted at 3. 5 %. we were able to mitigate successfully because our public debt was low at around 20 % of gdp which afforded us room for expansion which we used during this crisis period. apart from the macro - economy concerns, the crisis with the euro as a currency helped boost confidence in our domestic currency [ mkd denar ]. this is because people naturally began to wonder what would happen with europe ; therefore, its primary currency. as a result, some people began to orient more towards the mkd. traditionally our country, like most former yugoslavian countries are highly euro - rized, which means people save and use credits in euros, with a 65 % euro to 35 % mkd ratio. during the crisis and continuing today, the ratio of households and their propensity to save in mkd has elevated to 50 %. bis central bankers ’ speeches you have been in your post for 2 years with 5 more remaining. how do you view the future development of the economy based on the government ’ s fdi promotional campaigns that are taking place currently across the globe? we have witnessed in the past 4 – 5 years several very important foreign direct investments. some of them are so large that they already equate to roughly 17 % of our exports, with the majority of the companies focused on component manufacturing for the automotive industry. there are also several large firms that are in the pipeline which have shortlisted macedonia for their capacities. importantly, these incoming large - scale investments are also bringing diversification to our exports, which are traditionally based in textiles, agriculture and metals. it is worth noting that several of these firms not only made the decision to enter macedonia but are currently in expansion mode based off their operational successes here, to the degree that i predict in 3 years the current and pending fdis can equate to 30 % of our exports. of course strong and growing exports are a main target for most countries due to their balancing of payments. in our case, these fdis in automotive and electronics have contributed primarily to our economic growth in regards to manufacturing. other manufacturing sectors are struggling due to their continued dependence on the european union ’ s growth ; as such, their success is dependent upon overall growth and stabilization within the eu, which is showing signs of alleviation. clearly a growing focus is a diversification of export markets. this can be remedied by establishing further value - added capacities in manufacturing which can

is used up. as for the external borrowing, we will have it for a long period. and that is good, because even when we repay old liabilities, it is good to have a new loan that would compensate for that. it is not good to make repayment of the external liabilities overnight, and not to have a new inflow. then the funds will have to be provided from home, which will adversely affect both the credit and the economic growth. so, we should gradually pay back our debt, but when an old debt falls due it is common to take a new loan to repay the old one, and if it can be reduced, it will be even better. what will we do when in 2015 an installment of 500 million euros falls due? the amount that will fall due in the public sector is around euro 380 million. the rest is in the private sector. we have in mind those payments maturing in the next period. we have the potential, in both the foreign reserves and the economy, and certainly we expect that there will be new loans from abroad, which will repay part of the liabilities that will mature. bis central bankers ’ speeches