North Macedonia reports 4.3% Q2 GDP growth as opposition says government added €4bn

The State Statistical Office reported a 4.3 percent increase in GDP for the second quarter compared with the same period last year. The finance minister described the quarter as one of the strongest in more than two years and attributed the growth to higher investment activity, an incoming Hungarian loan, and gains in trade and construction.

“The structure of GDP shows that the growth has a broad base and is supported by several segments of the economy. A particularly strong impulse comes from investments. Gross investments in the second quarter record a real growth of 16.5 percent which indicates increased investment activity in the economy. Movements in foreign trade are also positive. Exports of goods and services have increased in real terms by 10.4 percent which represents further acceleration. Positive results are also observed on the production side, construction records strong growth of 21.9 percent,” said Gordana Dimitrieska-Kocoska, Minister of Finance.

Opposition accuses government of concealing new debt

The Social Democratic Union (SDSM) accused Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and Finance Minister Dimitrieska-Kocoska of hiding a 350 million-euro liability at JPDP and of concealing a new borrowing of 1.3 billion euros that was approved at a government session held on 31 August. SDSM’s calculations claim that over the past two years the Mickoski-led government has increased public debt by an additional four billion euros.

“One billion three hundred million euros of new debt with which the country's total debt will rise to the so far record, never before reached, almost 12 billion euros, of which over four billion are new debt only in the last two and a half years of Hristijan Mickoski's government. With that, the debt will rise to 65 percent, again a record, of GDP. This government has neither the capacity, nor the strategy, nor the desire to do something good for the citizens,” charged Venko Filipche, president of SDSM.

Minister Dimitrieska-Kocoska pushed back, saying the fresh borrowing is intended to cover obligations left by the previous administration.

“The debt that the opposition left for 2027 is almost 1.5 billion euros. Those are debts that they made and we must repay them. And it is legitimate that we must timely organize ourselves, to provide funds to repay the old debts,” Dimitrieska-Kocoska responded.

Alongside the fiscal dispute, SDSM announced it will again submit legislation to raise the minimum wage to 600 euros and propose subsidizing employer social contributions to cover the increase in costs for private companies.

Photo: press material from the event