Eurasia Press & News
Macedonia’s denar is not about to be devalued, the Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski said, addressing recent speculation on the subject.Macedonia’s Finance Minister has appealed to people “to maintain faith in the domestic currency and keep their savings in denars”, denying reports that the currency was about to be devalued.The Central Bank and the government have maintained a steady exchange rate for the denar throughout the past decade, selling 61 for one euro, and minister Stavreski said this was not about to change.
He said that the biggest guarantee of the denar’s stability were the state reserves in foreign currency, which are currently “at an historic high”, amounting to €2,96 billion euro.
This was €820 million more compared to July 2006, when the centre-right VMRO DPMNE party came to power, Stavreski said.
Besides this, Stavreski maintained that the deficit as well as the debt were relatively low, which further strengthens the denar as “the most reliable currency for keeping savings”.
Speculation that the government was preparing for a devaluation of the denar appeared in local media during the weekend.
But, according to VMRO DPMNE, the reports were “plain lies”, spread by the main opposition Social Democrats. The opposition has dismissed such claims.
“It is not the first time that the Social Democrats use schemes to induce panic among people, misusing the media that are close to them,” the ruling party said in a press release.
Meanwhile, local banks contacted by Balkan Insight say no massive sale of denars for other currencies is taking place.
“But people are uncertain and are increasingly seeking advice about what to do with their Denars,” one senior manager at Uni Banka said.
