On the basis of the Memorandum of Cooperation signed on December 19, 2013 between the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Ministry of Finance, the Agency for Supervision of Fully Funded Pension Insurance, the Insurance Supervision Agency and the Securities and Exchange Commission, as the regulatory institutions of the financial sector, a Coordination Body of the regulatory institutions in North Macedonia for financial education (hereinafter: the Coordination Body) was established. The purpose of establishing the Coordination Body is to encourage, plan and carry out activities aimed at raising the level of financial literacy of the population of the Republic of North Macedonia.

Competences of the Coordination Body

• encouraging cooperation between the competent institutions (regulators) in the field of financial education;
• launching initiatives to the competent institutions and bodies for the adoption of acts that will support the idea of financial education of the population of the Republic of North Macedonia;
• cooperation with schools and higher education institutions;
• drafting strategic documents, such as the National Strategy for Financial Education in the Republic of North Macedonia;
• defining and proposing joint financial education projects;
• reviewing individual projects that are to be started and implemented, and giving opinions on them;
• applying standards and recommendations in accordance with the internationally accepted principles of the G20, the OECD, the IAIS and other international organizations and institutions;
• organizing, conducting and evaluating surveys on the level of financial literacy in the Republic of North Macedonia;
• organizing meetings, workshops, seminars and other types of training in order to raise the financial literacy of the population of the Republic of North Macedonia; and
• promoting regional and international cooperation among all signatories in the field of financial education.

A new memorandum of cooperation in the field of financial education and financial inclusion was signed in 2019

The cooperation between the signatories under the Memorandum aims to raise public awareness of the need for financial education in the modern dynamic environment, as well as to recognize the benefits of financial inclusion. The Memorandum is expected to achieve the following objectives:

• Through an integrated vision, the implementation of educational projects and the joint efforts of the signatories, it is expected to contribute to raising the level of financial literacy of the population and, consequently, to improving the skills and ability to make informed financial decisions in practice;
• At the same time, the cooperation should make it possible to raise the level of financial inclusion by strengthening all aspects of the availability, usefulness and efficiency of financial services in the country and better information about them, as well as appropriate information about consumer rights in the financial sector. Strengthening financial education and improving financial inclusion should enable the optimization of the services offered by the financial system in order to support economic growth and social well-being;
• In addition, this memorandum encourages, plans and carries out cooperation activities at the regional and international level with other organizations and institutions in the field of financial education and financial inclusion.