Filipche: Prime minister and finance minister must say why €350 million JPSD debt is hidden
Filipche accuses the government of hiding a €350 million JPSD liability and questions why a €1.3 billion loan was excluded from the budget rebalance.
Venko Filipche, leader of SDSM and MP, asked Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska to explain why a reportedly €350 million liability of the Public Enterprise for State Roads is not reflected in official public-debt tables.
At a press briefing in the Assembly, Filipche repeated his allegation that the government is concealing the debt of ЈПДП and challenged officials to say why the new borrowing of €1.3 billion was not included in the budget rebalance.
Alleged hidden liabilities and rising public debt
Filipche displayed a document he said shows a need for new borrowing of €1.3 billion, which he argued would push the country's total public debt to an unprecedented level: "...the total debt of the state will reach so far record, never-before seen almost €12 billion. Of these, more than €4 billion are new debt created in just the last two to two and a half years, so the debt will grow to a record 65 percent of gross domestic product," he said.
He accused the government of lacking an economic strategy and of using public money for partisan procurement instead of capital investment that could boost the economy and reduce the debt burden.
Filipche also announced that SDSM will again submit a bill to raise the minimum wage to 36,000 denars (€600) and said the draft will include a measure to subsidize employer contributions to cover the additional cost for private companies. He said the party plans to present the proposal at the beginning of next week.
Answering a question about where the funds would come from, Filipche said savings could be found by cutting what he described as unproductive or luxury budget items. He also pointed to government plans — which, he said, include buying a new state plane — as an example of misplaced priorities.
Reflecting on the likelihood that the VMRO-DPMNE-led majority will back the proposal, Filipche said: "Given how brutally and hostilely they govern, only for their own interest, I do not expect them to support the law, but I hope they will have at least a small grain of conscience to think about the workers and how they live these days."
Photo: СДСМ
