VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski warned that the country is in a state of stagflation, with rising prices and a moribund economy.

The inflation rate of 6.7 percent is literally eating away the minimum wage hike, and we have thousands upon thousands who see no increase at all. The Government frivolously rejected our proposal to align all other salaries with the minimum wage increase. And now our citizens face stagflation and debt slavery, Mickoski said during an event in Ohrid, to discuss regional projects initiated by the VMRO-DPMNE mayors from the south-west of the country.

Mickoski pointed to the steep rises in the price of oil, food and essential groceries, noting that the minimum cost of living for a family of four was 32,000 denars in 2019, and is now up to 35,000. He warned that the only approach of the Government in this situation is to keep adding to the debt, which amounted to 164 million EUR just in the first 48 days of the year, which is 30 percent of the total planned 2022 deficit.