Macedonia's banking sector and its currency - the denar - are safe and citizens can trust them, Vice PM and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski, National Bank Governor Dimitar Bogov and President of the Banking Association Gjorgi Jancovski urged Monday on the occasion of the World Savings Day.
Savings, they added, in Macedonia are mounting. Household savings accounts stand at 158 billion denars. In the past 12 months, population deposits have increased by 13% - Denar savings accounts have risen by 17% and currency accounts by 9.5%. Simultaneously with deposits, credit accounts are also on the rise.
"Macedonia and its banking sector are stable and citizens can be safe about their savings accounts. The denar is a stable currency, which at the moment provides the biggest income for the citizens i.e. to save in denars is utterly beneficial," Vice PM and FinMin Stavreski said, adding that "this makes Macedonia different from other European countries facing problems with the stability of their banking sector and their debts."
He expressed content with the fact that in such circumstances, in which banks in many European countries were tackling serious problems, Macedonia's banking system was in good hands owing to the National Bank's supervision, attempts made to maintain a high level of fiscal and monetary discipline and due to banks' management, allowing citizens to have complete trust in them
National Bank Governor Dimitar Bogov said that trust in denar savings was particularly increasing in Macedonia.
"This is a result of several things. Despite the crisis, citizens' incomes weren't decreased significantly. In 2009 and 2010, consumption was reduced, because the population was paid attention and saved more," the Governor stated.
Jancovski said he believed that the increase in savings was due to the stability of the banking sector, trust in banks and country's macroeconomic stability.
Asked to elaborate government's saving methods, Minister Stavreski said it was done through a low level of budgetary deficit, which was the lowest in Europe, demonstrating that the government was focused on fiscal discipline and savings both during and after the crisis.
