Macedonia's Finance Ministry informed that it has paid back 18,3 million EUR (1,126 billion denars) in maturing bonds owed to domestic financial institutions.

"With this, the Finance Ministry has met its announcement to reduce debt exposure to domestic corporations. This strategy should leave more liquid funds in the domestic economy and allow greater economic activity in our corporate sector", the Ministry said in a press release.

The move comes as the Government issued 450 million in euro denominated bonds through an international auction. These funds will be used to cover much of the deficit spending for 2016 and 2017, and allow the domestic banks to focus their resources on consumer and investment credit lines. "In the past two months, three planned auctions on the domestic market have been cancelled. The level of domestic debt is approaching 0", the Ministry adds.