Gov’t Economic Council to hold session
Skopje, 5 October 2022 (MIA) – The Government has scheduled a session of the Economic Council on Wednesday at noon. The session’s agenda includes discussion about additional anti-crisis measures to cushion the price blow.
Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said Monday that restricting trade margins is working, but that the inputs – the fuels and raw resources, which the producers of basic food products receive, are driving the increase in prices.
“We are all aware of the rising food prices, especially concerning basic food products. The Government initially froze the prices, however, since we are an open economy which trades with foreign partners, freezing prices for a long period is impossible, because there won’t be enough products, so we moved to restrict the trade margins,” Kovachevski stressed.
He noted that very soon the Government will announce concrete anti-crisis measures aimed at aiding the most vulnerable groups of citizens, adding that the lists of citizens set to receive aid are already being drafted.
Meanwhile, the Economic Chamber urged the Government by October 5, 2022 at the latest, when the Economic Council is scheduled to convene, to pass measures to cushion the strong price blow.
According to the Macedonian chamber of commerce, the business sector has one alternative – either the state will help or businesses will have to face shutdown.
“This is a critical moment. To react promptly is a decisive factor to maintain the country’s macroeconomic and budgetary stability. The situation the economy is in is serious given the skyrocketing electricity bills by six times, for which no company is to blame. Over, 1,600 companies on the free market on Sept. 30, 2022 took part in a poll saying they were in an exceptionally dire situation. A process has started to reduce the number of employees, reduce production and to close companies. Escalation is expected in the next two months when contracts for energy supply are concluded for the next year,” the Chamber said in a statement Monday.
