With the spiking inflation, living standards are quickly declining, but there is a false appearance of stability in public finances, said VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski in a Sitel TV interview yesterday. Mickoski noted that the budget is filling up due to the increase in value added tax receipts from the rising prices, but this is all to the detriment of consumers.

The budget appears to be filling well, but that is because our purchasing power is being destroyed. Nominally inflation is at 6.7 percent, but in food and beverages it is 10 percent, while in cooking oil it reached 26.1 percent. It’s a disastrous situation, Mickoski warned.