A denar that stayed close to the euro

North Macedonia introduced the denar in 1992, and after a period of high inflation the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia adopted a strategy of keeping it stable against the Deutsche mark from 1995 and then the euro. The rate has remained about 61.5 denars per euro for decades, which anchored inflation and gave exporters and borrowers a predictable exchange rate. Because many loans and deposits are in euros, the central bank has avoided devaluation even when this meant tight policy, using interest rates and foreign-exchange interventions to defend the rate during episodes such as the 2001 internal conflict and the global crisis. In 2022 inflation reached about 14 percent as energy and food prices rose, and the central bank raised its interest rate several times to protect the peg, explaining the post-pandemic swing in the country's price series.