THE PHENOMENON OF THE NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES WITH A SPECIAL REVIEW OF THE MACEDONIAN BANKING SECTOR

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of the negative interest rates in Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Germany and Japan and to analyse the efficiency of the Macedonian banking sector. From the analysis it can be stated that the negative interest rates change the way the banks operate, and they can be used only by countries that are developed. In order for the relative efficiency of the Macedonian banking sector to be evaluated, we use the non-parametric methodology DEA. In the analysis, two inputs and two outputs are used, the period is 2016, and the sample comprises 13 banks. According to the results, 7 of the banks are identified as relatively efficient, and the average efficiency of the Macedonian banking sector is 91.56%. For the banks that are identified as inefficient, what is pointed out is how they can improve the efficiency, which presents valuable information for the management and leads to improved efficiency of the banking sector as a whole.