Peshevski: Government consumption basket undercuts union calculation
Ivan Peshevski from the trade union said the government’s new consumption basket underestimates real household costs and differs from union market checks.
Trade unions criticised the government after the Economic‑Social Council meeting, saying the cabinet’s newly published consumption basket understates household costs by almost €200 compared with the unions’ market analysis.
“Most likely many of the items we have in our basket, they do not. Food and beverages, ours is 26.000 denars, theirs is 20.000 denars, and again we look at prices from the same markets. Maybe they think that with much less food the Macedonian worker can get through the day or their family members. So what we see we receive comments that you cannot live this month even with 70.000 denars, let alone with 58.000 denars,” said Ivan Peshevski of SSM.
Union and government figures diverge on monthly needs
Unions argue the state’s primary duty is to adopt measures that preserve citizens’ living standards, not to persuade people that less money is required to get by. They say independent price checks in the same retail outlets produce higher totals than the government’s calculation.
The government’s analysis, presented at the council, again produced lower monthly costs than the trade union estimate. It finds that two employed members of a four‑person family need 29.000 denars each to cover average monthly expenses. The September basket was measured at just over 58.000 denars, meaning the family budget last month was lighter by a little over 350 denars.
“Let us make one distinction: this is not a minimum basket, but an average consumption basket; if we proceed from that question we should look at the two average salaries in a four‑person family,” said Besar Durmishi, Minister of Economy and Labour.
The meeting also listed proposals on public holidays and non‑working days, but no discussion took place because the Chamber of Commerce’s amendment proposal has not yet been formally submitted to the government. The Chamber suggested reducing the number of non‑working days and removing the transfer of a holiday that falls on a Sunday — a proposal that drew public reaction.
Photo: press material from the event
