Skopje, 10 May 2024 (MIA) — Despite the unprecedented shocks, the regional banking systems showed a high level of resilience, the national banking system not only maintaining stability but also increasing it, National Bank Governor Anita Angelovska-Bezhoska told a panel discussion dedicated to banking systems in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe as part of the Vienna Initiative Full Forum held in Vilnius, Lithuania.

"The results of our efforts are visible. The capitalization of our banking system compared to the period before the pandemic has increased by nearly 2 percentage points, which is twice the increase in the Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe region and is currently the highest in the past 17 years, and the quality of capital is at a historically high level," the central banker said. 

She added that the trends reflected the strengthening of regulations, supervision and macroprudential measures taken by the National Bank.

Pointing out that there had been solid credit support for citizens and companies with an average credit growth of about 7 percent, she said that lending interest rates rose but the growth was lower than the growth of interest rates in the EU. 

The domestic loan interest rates were very close to the interest rates in the EU, with the difference between them being historically the lowest, she noted.

At the moment, Angelovska-Bezhoska said, the average interest rate was 5.5 percent, or twice as low compared to the period before the global financial crisis, when it was about 11 percent on average.

The governor also spoke about financial literacy and the protection of bank customers, which she said were important for making good financial decisions as well as for offering more competitive financial conditions.

"Financial literacy, education and consumer protection, which are the National Bank's strategic priorities, are important for customers so that they can better understand and correctly compare offers between different banks," she said.

She added that the National Bank had recently established a separate unit for financial literacy and consumer protection. 

Under the leadership of the National Bank, the first national Financial Education and Financial Inclusion Strategy was adopted, she said.

Last year, she continued, it had also published guidelines for banks on good consumer protection practices and fair and transparent customer relations based on clear and easy-to-understand information on their products and services.

Measures were also taken to increase transparency by comparing banking service fees in order, together with the liberalization of the payment services market, to encourage competition, she said.

The Vienna Initiative was launched at the height of the first wave of the global financial crisis in January 2009. It provided a forum for decision making and coordination that helped prevent a systemic banking crisis in the region and it remains a platform for private and public sector decision makers to meet to exchange experience and discuss appropriate actions. mr/