Green loans in North Macedonia grow 30% but their share remains low

The National Bank of North Macedonia has recorded an increase in green loans by 2.8 times since 2019, while growth in 2023 amounted to 29.1%.

The National Bank of North Macedonia published a report on green loans for the fourth quarter of 2023. They grew by 5% in the period and 29.1% on an annual scale.

Green loans were 2.8 times higher than in 2019, when data began to be collected, the bank said.

According to the report, banks’ receivables on green loans amounted to MKD 19.9 million (EUR 323,000) at the end of 2023, compared to MKD 7.2 million (EUR 117,000) four years earlier.

The central bank said most of the growth in green lending was from corporate sector financing and that most of the loans were granted by large banks.

Despite significant growth, the share of green loans is at a very low level. Over the period 2019-2023, it increased from 2.2% to 4.5%.

The bank defines the category as loans for projects to support sustainablity, environmental or goals contributing to the green transition  including the development of environmental protection technologies.

The document’s authors explained that, according to the World Bank’s standards, such financing allows the borrower to invest exclusively in projects with a significant contribution to the environment and ones that reduce adverse effects of climate change.

Green loans aim to improve the energy efficiency of households and the corporate sector, support investments in green technologies, materials and solutions, renewable energy sources, pollution control and prevention, environmental protection, and climate change risk reduction, the definition reads.

The strategic goal is to increase awareness of climate change

The central bank underscored one of its strategic goals is to increase awareness of climate change and contribute to a green, sustainable economy.

It highlighted its Medium-Term Plan of Climate Risk Management for the period 2023-2025, followed by the recent Review of Green Growth Indicators, produced to improve climate data availability.

The National Bank of North Macedonia said it is creating a green portfolio of securities within foreign reserves and that it plans stress tests to assess the resilience of the banking system to climate change are also planned.