Skopje, 2 June 2022 (MIA) — Some of the government’s support measures will be extended through the end of the year, and some will be redesigned to help citizens most affected by the crisis, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said in a Kanal 5 TV appearance Thursday evening. “We must be responsible both regarding the budget and liquidity, the stability of the financial system,” PM Kovachevski said, noting that the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance were working on redesigning some relief measures. “These measures will be timely, in order to protect the living standards of the citizens,” he added. He pointed out that all measures taken in March this year had been planned in great detail and in consultation with international financial institutions. As he said, measures that remain in force are the reduction of VAT on electricity, relief checks to the most vulnerable categories of citizens amounting to Mden 1000 per month, relief checks of Mden 1000 for pensioners, as well, and interest-free loans or favorable loans with very low interest rates for companies' energy transformation. “Some of the measures are being redesigned, considering that we are going to face a difficult winter. We are planning all this in consultation with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other financial institutions that have expertise and global experience,” Kovachevski said. He noted that international financial institutions were expecting price pressures to stabilize by the end of the year, depending on the development of the war in Ukraine. mr/