This jubilee year of 2016, the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia is at the center of the celebration of 70 years of institutionalized central-banking operations on the territory of the Macedonian state. In the past seven decades, our institution, in different formal legal frameworks and throughout a sequence of processes of evolutionary institutional development, represented and represents a substantial and important pillar for the functioning of the Macedonian society and anchor of the macroeconomic stability of the state.

As a major bearer and enforcer of the central-banking operations in the Republic of Macedonia, starting from the adoption of the Regulation on Consolidation of State-Owned Credit Enterprises, adopted on September 25, 1946, by which the Economic Bank of Macedonia became Head Office of the National Bank of PFRY for People’s Republic of Macedonia and more specifically, from its actual consolidation with the National Bank of PFRY on October 19, 1946, until today, the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia has witnessed distinct periods of social peace and prosperity as well as times of challenges and changes. Relying on its own layers of professional knowledge and experience, in cooperation with several central banks and other international monetary institutions, and yet, primarily due to the labor of generations of bank employees and managers who have spent their working life in this institution, it has credibly carried out its complex and hugely responsible duties and tasks in the field of the central banking.

This year's anniversary is unquestionable occasion to mention the extraordinary session of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, held on April 26, 1992 when the Charter on the Monetary Independence of the Republic of Macedonia was adopted, whose constituent parts were the Law on the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia, the Law on Monetary Unit and the Law on Use of the Monetary Unit. These crucial acts represent the second milestone in the history of the central-banking in the Republic of Macedonia, considering that they have established the framework for unrestricted functioning of the central bank as an independent, issuing bank of the sovereign and independent Macedonia.

Today, faced with the institutional responsibilities and challenges set by the rhythm of the new millennium, the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia is in a constant professional effort for a just, balanced and non-discriminatory serving the needs of the Macedonian society, conducting a prudent monetary policy that ensures price stability through stable exchange rate of the Macedonian national currency and stable banking sector. This institutional success is due to the serious efforts undertaken for its own internal reforms and rapid approaching of the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia to the family of the central banks of the member states of the European Union, in establishing highly developed practices and standards in its operations.

Happy anniversary, with respect to the path created by the ancestors and faith to create a good future for those coming after us!