site.btaOpposition SDSM Calls World Bank Data on North Macedonia Disastrous, PM Mickoski Claims Only SDSM Rule Was Disastrous

Fatmir Bytyqi MP of the opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) said the latest World Bank report contains alarming and devastating data on the economy of the Republic of North Macedonia. He is a former deputy prime minister for economic affairs.

"This report is a snapshot of the daily situation in the second half of the year: rising prices, a slump in living standards, a cancelled plan for wage growth. The economy is in free fall. Instead of the expected 2.5% economic growth, the World Bank says we will end this year with only 1.8% GDP growth - a clear signal that the economic policy of the VMRO-DPMNE party is a complete failure, the economy is on its deathbed," Bytyqi said in a statement.

The report says clearly that the main cause of the downward revision is the lack of progress on key infrastructure projects - Corridors 8 and 10 - which were launched by the SDSM government but VMRO-DPMNE is not implementing, the MP said.

"Rather than moving forward, the government has allowed these projects to stagnate, with disastrous consequences for GDP. While we hear great promises of investment in the energy sector, the World Bank says problems are piling up here, which pose a real risk of accelerating the economic decline. The World Bank also notes price rises and the slow pace of public investment. At the end of the year, the fiscal deficit will reach 4.9% and public debt will soar to an alarming 63.5% of GDP. With the recently announced additional EUR 500 million loan from Hungary, we can expect public debt to reach 70% of GDP. A path that leads to economic ruin. The economy does not have the capacity to support the incurred debt by creating new value. Thus, the government's vaunted interest rate of 3.25% (for the Hungarian loan) is higher than the expected GDP growth of 1.45 percentage points,"  Bytyqi said.

In his view, the World Bank report is clear evidence of "the disastrous results of the government led by VMRO-DPMNE," which took power less than four months ago.

During a visit to Novo Selo municipality on Saturday, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said that the only disaster is the state in which SDSM rule left the country, and that since VMRO-DPMNE has been in power, "the free fall has been halted and all indicators are positive".

Mickoski expects second-half economic growth to be above 3%, "given the accelerated dynamics of capital investment".