Skopje, 8 October 2024 (MIA) - Over the past 100 days, the Ministry of Economy and Labour has been committed to supporting businesses and households, as well as protecting the citizens' standard of living, Minister Besar Durmishi said on Tuesday, adding that since the beginning of his term in office, decisions have been made continuously to support business and the citizens.

"Over these past 100 days, we have been committed to working in the interest of improving the business climate for companies and reducing costs for citizens. In a situation of increased food prices, in order to meet the needs of the citizens, we started the action "lower costs, more for you". First, we reduced wholesale and retail margins on school supplies, also reducing costs for households, especially those with pupils. Then, in order to meet the citizens' needs, we announced the autumn market basket and limited the margins of 73 basic food products to 10 percent in both wholesale and retail trade," Durmishi told a press conference at the Government. 

He noted that the measure will continue in the coming period as a practice for the Christmas holidays and all other holidays that will follow. 

"Preliminary analyses on the ground say that the prices of the products included in the autumn market basket have dropped by an average of 5 to 10 percent, with the price reduction being smaller for some products, or there is no price reduction at all as in the case of bread, cooking oil and milk, while in other products it is significantly higher and these include meat, vegetables, white cheese and yellow cheese. Further reduction in prices is expected, given the reduction in prices in the wholesale trade, which is yet to take place," said Durmishi. 

Thus, he added, a family of four would save between 690 and 1,360 denars per month, depending on their eating habits as well as the choice of markets where the products are purchased.

"The law banning unfair trade practices came into force, which limits the deductions and additional costs for over 2,500 food products and is expected to bring a further reduction in food prices by the end of this month," Durmishi pointed out. 

In terms of ​​business, he added, the Ministry of Economy and Labour has provided financial support to local companies in the amount of over 120 million denars.

He expects the first session of the Economic and Social Council to be held very soon, in order to discuss all open issues, raised both by the employers and by the unions, towards improving the standard of living of the citizens.

Photo: print screen