Skopje, 10 March 2025 (MIA) — Although the global gender gap in account ownership has narrowed to six percentage points, women are still more likely to have inactive accounts and have less access to financial services; the same is true for North Macedonia, except the gender gap is even wider, at 10.7 percent, according to National Bank governor Anita Angelovska-Bezhoska.

Citing the latest available data in an interview with Pari.mk, the central banker said that 79.9 percent of women and 90.6 percent of men in North Macedonia owned a bank account in 2021.

"This gender gap of 10.7 percentage points is significantly wider than the average in Europe and Central Asia, where it is 3.2 percentage points," she said, adding that measures needed to be taken to improve the financial inclusion of women.

Angelovska-Bezhoska also highlighted how important access to finance was for economic independence, for better management of personal and family finances as well as for creating a more secure future.

She said actions needed to be taken to address the global problem of gender equality. Although some progress had been made over the past decade, she noted, World Bank surveys showed that the gender gap in account ownership in developing economies remained significant.

"Access to financial services creates opportunities for entrepreneurship, investment and active participation in the economy," Angelovska-Bezhoska said, adding that banking services, loans and savings contribute to reducing economic disparities and creating better living conditions for women and their communities.

"Also, gender equality in the financial sector brings benefits both for women and for society in general, by stimulating economic growth and progress," she said.

"To overcome this challenge, corporate policies need to change," Angelovska-Bezhoska added, stressing that more efforts needed to be made to financially educate women, have more women in leadership roles, and systematically address the obstacles that have long held them back. mr/