Skopje, 15 October 2024 (MIA) - National Bank Governor Anita Angelovska-Bezhoska met Tuesday with Director General at the Directorate General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), Gert Jan Koopman, and Deputy Director General at the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs, Elena Flores Gual, in Brussels, Belgium.

According to the National Bank, talks focused on one of the priorities of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, namely, the country's request for membership in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

"Our official request for SEPA membership was submitted in July of this year, after an extensive change to the legal and regulatory framework in the field of payment services, banking system, prevention of money laundering, towards alignment with the European acquis. Given that the Executive Board of the European Payments Council (EPC) makes the final decision for SEPA membership, based on opinions from the European Commission, a meeting was held with EPC Director General, Giorgio Andreoli. The meetings, also attended by other governors from the Western Balkan region, expressed support for the central banks' efforts to align the national legal framework with the European acquis, which is a prerequisite for joining SEPA," the National Bank said in a press release. 

SEPA membership, adds the press release, creates conditions for technical connectivity between providers of payment services (banks and other non-banking payment service providers) and payment systems with EU payment infrastructure, which will significantly reduce the costs of cross-border payments in euro, while simplifying procedure and shortening the time for their execution, i.e. payments will be carried out in the same way as payments in the EU.

"After our request is approved, we expect banks to actively use this opportunity and join European systems, thus reduce expenses and increase payment speed for citizens and companies," the press release reads. ssh/nn/

Photo: National Bank