Macedonian Economy 'Recovering Very Slowly'

Although the government and the IMF have forecasted this year’s economic growth at two per cent, NBM is sticking to its projection of one per cent economic growth, Gosev said.

“There are risks that it will be even less than that but also the possibility that it will be greater. At the moment the risks point towards a decline,” Gosev noted.

He added that “the domestic economy is recovering very slowly” as a result of the still low demand on the international market.

After maintaining a substantial growth of some five per cent in 2008, Macedonia ended last year with a negative economic growth of 0.7 per cent.

NBM has predicted that inflation this year will reach 1.5 per cent. The level of foreign currency reserves is expected to climb a bit by some additional €40 million. At the annual level it is expected to reach €1.65 billion.

Gosev commented on the current financial turmoil in neighbouring Greece, saying that it could have negative effects on Macedonia as well. He noted, however, that this could concern only the real sector and not the banking sector.

He assessed Macedonian banks as stable, with strong capital and highly liquid.