Economic results in the first half of 2019 are disastrous, said opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski during his press conference today, pointing to the dramatic shortfall in tax collection and the even greater drop in foreign direct investments.

Tax collection is 16 percent below projections in June. We live in two different worlds with Prime Minister Zaev, there is his world, and the one where citizens are living with falling incomes, Mickoski said.

He warned that there are on-going attempts to massage the statistics, all with the purpose of declaring that the average salary is closing in on 500 EUR before 2020, when elections are due. This is being done by touting the December salary figures, which include year-end bonuses, which were followed by a significant drop in the average salary.

The Government needs to get serious and give the true picture of the financial situation to the public, and to acknowledge the negative effects of its tax hike, Mickoski said.