SDSM proposes scrapping fuel excise and cutting VAT to 5%
SDSM says removal of the excise plus a VAT cut to 5% would leave households with substantially more fuel and purchasing power than the government's temporary diesel VAT cut.
The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) proposed scrapping the excise on fuels and cutting value added tax (VAT) from 18% to 5%, presenting the measures as achievable steps that would ease household expenses and lower transport costs across the economy, SDSM president Venko Filipche said at a press conference.
Filipche presented the party's proposals shortly after the Government announced a temporary reduction of VAT on diesel from 18% to 10%. He called the government's intervention delayed and insufficient, and argued SDSM's package would produce a substantially larger benefit for both average earners and those on the minimum wage.
Numbers: how much more fuel people could buy
Filipche quantified the difference between the two approaches, saying the SDSM plan would leave households with noticeably more purchasing power. He said: "If the government's measures are implemented, the insufficient cut of the excise from 18 to 10 percent, then a person with an average net salary can buy 513 litres of eurodiesel or 535 litres of eurosuper. With our proposed measures, he will be able to buy 621 litres of eurodiesel, that is 108 litres more, or 740 litres of eurosuper, i.e. 205 litres more."
He added the gains are even clearer for minimum-wage earners and will have a direct effect on family budgets. "A person on a minimum wage, instead of with the measures proposed by the Government being able to buy 276 litres of eurodiesel, will be able to buy 334 litres of eurodiesel, that is 58 litres more, and instead of 288 litres of eurosuper, 398 litres of eurosuper, meaning 110 litres more fuel with SDSM's measures," Filipche said.
Filipche also framed the proposals as part of a broader effort to reduce prices across the market, criticizing the current administration. "We believe these are the right measures, which citizens deserve, because this significant reduction in fuel prices, supported by the state, can also cause some fall in other prices. Because prices in supermarkets are terrible. We have more expensive prices than Germany – on food products, on beverages, on everything. And nobody from this criminal, arm-like government is interested in that, they are only interested in party tenders from which they steal people's money," he said.
The Government's VAT cut for diesel is temporary and will apply until September 28. Separately, the Regulatory Commission for Energy (RKE) adjusted retail fuel prices: from midnight petrol prices rose by 3.5 denars while diesel fell by 2 denars. The new wholesale retail prices were set at 100.50 denars per litre for eurosuper BS-95, 102.50 denars for eurosuper BS-98, and 99 denars for diesel.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, responding to reporters, said that "without a reduction of the excise and VAT, diesel would have been about 11–11.5 denars more expensive per litre than it is today."
Photo: press material from the event
