Finance Minister Nina Angelovska defended the option of a gas tax hike to try and fill in the budget hole that is rapidly growing. With record low gas prices providing a rare piece of economic good news, the Ministry decided to hike the tax by between 2 and 3 denars per liter.

Angelovska insisted that the price is set to go down by 20 denars per liter because of the unprecedented oil glut on the market, so a hike of several denars won’t hurt the economy by a lot.

We see room to hike the tax. We will need to pay back the loans we are taking now, Angelovska said.

Previously she present three scenarios, depending on how long the epidemic lasts, and under the most optimistic one the budget deficit will explode to 700 million EUR.