Macedonia is growing faster than other countries in the region, due to fiscal policies that have spurred growth, and the foreign direct investment in large manufacturing plants. Ivanna Vladkova Hollar, deputy division chief of the European Department of the International Monetary Fund said at conference in Vienna on Tuesday.
The conference, named "15 Years of Economic Transition" looks into the Balkan countries, which have undergone a great economic transformation since 2000, but are also suffering under pressure from the economic crisis.
"Macedonia maintains a good macro economic policy and has room to intervene with fiscal policies during the global economic and European debt crisis to stimulate its growth", Hollar said at the conference. She said that large part of Macedonia's success is owed to its work to bring in foreign direct investors in the free economic zones established across the country that are open for investors willing to hire large numbers of people.
According to Hollar, main challenges for both Macedonia and the rest of the Balkans remain the work needed to bring down the unemployment rates, to leave more room to grow the private sector and maintain macroeconomic stability.
The report notes how Macedonia leads the region in structural reforms, and adds that Macedonia and Serbia have been able to open their economies the most. This means that the two countries have been able to improve the structure of their exports with products that have a greater added value. IMF sees that foreign direct investments will continue to be the main engine for job creation, helping solve the main economic problem in Macedonia - the unemployment rate.
