Skopje, 3 November 2022 (MIA) – Amid an energy crisis and rising global energy prices, which also affect the foreign exchange market, domestic prices and standard of living, the National Bank is fully committed to achieving its main goal – maintaining macroeconomic stability, heard a meeting Thursday of National Bank Governor Anita Angelovska Bezhoska and Vice-Governor Fadil Bajrami with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) country representative Andi Aranitasi. The pandemic, the armed conflict in Ukraine and the energy crisis have brought about new challenges that have caused an increase in the prices of primary products, mainly energy and food prices, which are fluctuating daily and are causing upward price pressures. This has a major impact on the domestic economy, which is highly dependent on imports. In such conditions, policymakers have the task to respond timely and responsibly through measures that will mitigate the growth of inflation, while keeping economic growth in mind. The National Bank’s response to these developments, like the response of the majority of central banks in the world, is gradual monetary tightening. At the same time, the National Bank is successfully maintaining the stability of the exchange rate, which is the main anchor of the overall stability of the economy, said the National Bank in a press release. Aranitasi stated that the EBRD would continue to support the Macedonian economy by financing projects in the public and private sector. He said that in addition to projects in support of the competitiveness of the Macedonian economy, special support is given to the projects for the transition of the Macedonian economy to a model that results in positive effects on the environment. The activities of the National Bank aimed at mitigating the pressures and structural issues of the economy were also mentioned. In addition to a set of activities in support of “green financing,” one of the Bank’s latest measures is a change within the required reserve in order to encourage crediting projects that are related to the domestic production of electricity from renewable sources, reads the press release. ad/ik/