Interim Deputy Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska Kocoska said that dealing with the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic is put on a backburner by the Government, which will have serious consequences in the future. The opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, which nominated Dimitrieska, called for emergency economic measures to help households and companies that are hardest hit by the virus but few of them have been implemented.

Macedonia is an open economy and we are largely dependent on other countries that are hit by the virus. The Government should have acted on its own or acted on the proposals made by VMRO-DPMNE. The move to freeze consumer prices could’ve been made as early as a week ago, when we realized the mask prices are spiking, Dimitrieska said.

The opposition also proposed a month long exemption from paying back loans and mortgages, given the dramatically reduced economic activity in the country.