Venko Filipche and Trajko Slavevski spar publicly over ALTA Bank measures
Filipche says citizens’ funds are ‘trapped’ under a 10,000‑denar weekly cap for individuals; governor Slavesvski disputes the interpretation.
SDSM leader Venko Filipche criticized a decision by the National Bank of North Macedonia to limit how customers with accounts at ALTA Bank AD Bitola can access their funds, saying the measure imposes a weekly withdrawal cap of 10,000 denars for individuals while legal entities are not subject to the same restriction.
Filipche argued the central bank's move leaves citizens' money effectively trapped, whereas companies can continue to use their accounts without identical limits.
National Bank Governor Trajko Slavevski replied that Filipche was misinterpreting the temporary measures and urged him to remove his post. In his message the governor wrote: "Dear doctor, a reasonable person would immediately 'surgically' remove/erase this shameful post."
The National Bank introduced provisional measures for ALTA Bank AD Bitola, saying the steps aim to protect the assets and interests of depositors.
Publicly available information indicates depositors at the bank hold approximately 118 million euros, and the financial institution recorded losses in the last month.
From 2 November the bank has also temporarily closed all client branches until further notice.
Photo: press material from the event
