During a televised debate on the economy, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski informed that the Government approved asking for an additional loan from Hungary, worth 500 million EUR, that will be used to reprogram outstanding debts from the previous Government taken under less favorable terms. Hungary already lent Macedonia 500 million EUR, which are being distributed evenly between priority local infrastructure projects and soft loans for businesses.

After long and arduous negotiations, the second part of the Hungarian loan was approved at the Government level. Before the elections we spoke about a billion EUR, and now ew are completing this arrangement. The Euro-denominated bond issue from 2018 matures on January 25th and the 500 million EUR will go to cover that loan, Mickoski said.

The Prime Minister added that Macedonia would not be able to expect interest rates lower than 6 percent on the open market, but instead, we will receive a rate of 3.25 percent. “Over 15 years, this will save us 200 million EUR, and the future generations will not be saddled with the bond. With this loan of 1 billion EUR we are accomplishing three goals – we are paying off our debts, we are making capital investments in our municipalities and we are helping all citizens through our business community”.