The National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia published an update on discussions with World Bank senior officials covering the country’s integration into European payments, highlighting its accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and the regulatory steps taken to enable domestic payment service providers to connect to SEPA payment systems. Further amendments to the regulatory framework for executing cross-border payments have already been adopted and will apply from 5 October 2025, when payment service providers will be able for the first time to join SEPA payment systems. Preparatory work is being carried out with domestic banks to integrate into the European payments ecosystem in the coming months, and the National Bank expects to shift the focus in 2026 to instant payments, including participation in a regional instant payments project supported by the World Bank. The update also notes World Bank technical assistance across banking-system priorities, including strengthening the macroprudential framework and completing secondary legislation under the Bank Resolution Law, with the National Bank having adopted 12 decisions that complete the bank resolution regulatory framework and align it with international standards and good practices; climate-risk work cited includes development of a stress-testing methodology for commercial banks.

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