Historical Sketch

In the late 15th century, the Ottoman Empire conquered the western Balkan region and established the governorate (evalet) of Rumelia. In the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, the Ottomans were driven out, and the territory got partitioned between Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece. The Serbian part, since 1918 within Yugoslavia, was referred to as Banovina province. During World War II, when Yugoslavia had been dissolved by the Axis powers, Macedonia got annexed by Bulgaria. In the reconstituted Yugoslavia of 1945, Macedonia did not get re-integrated into Serbia but was constituted as a separate republic. In 1991 Yugoslavia disintegrated, and Macedonia also declared independence. Due to a naming dispute with neighboring Greece, which has a region of the same name, the United Nations resolved in 1993 that new state had to use the international name “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)”. The conflict went on and blocked Macedonian steps towards an integration into the European Union. It finally got resolved in June 2018 when a change of the country’s name into North Macedonia was agreed. The agreement was approved by referendum and ratified by both the (North) Macedonian and Greek parliaments. The name change took effect in January 2019.

Monetary History Overview

In April 1992, about half a year after Macedonia had seceded from Yugoslavia, the country also split off the Yugoslav currency area. The 1st Macedonian Denar was introduced as transitional national currency. It was devalued by 45% at introduction and another 54% half a year later. In May 1993, a currency reform was carried out. Two zeros were cut, and the 2nd (North) Macedonian Denar became the new unit. The exchange rate was floated and remained stable until two devaluations in the late 1990s removed about one third of the value. With this, the Denar has remained stable such that in July 2003 a peg to the Euro could be instated.

(North) Macedonia joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 14.12.1992.

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