VMRO-DPMNE Secretary General Igor Janusev outlined eight urgently needed measures to protect the Macedonian economy from the impact of the coronavirus epidemic. The opposition party has been proposing these and similar steps for weeks, but most of their proposals have been ignored, while the ruling SDSM party is pursuing a plan to greatly reduce public sector salaries for two months.

– The public budget must cover 50 percent of the gross salaries of employees

– Freezing of loan and interest payments citizens and companies have toward the banks

– An end to non-essential spending from the budget, and an absolute focus toward public infrastructure building

– Help transport companies by reducing road tolls, customs and abolishing customs for purchase of medical equipment

– Income tax break for April, May and June and VAT sales tax break for March for all crisis hit industries

– End to all temporary employment programs in the public sector

– No evening out of the salaries of public sector managers and ordinary employees

– Urgently securing a billion EUR through 600 million EUR in loans and 400 million EUR already invested in public bonds

Through is spokesman Naum Stoilkovski, the conservative party also proposed having all government members and high placed public sector managers working pro-bono to the end of the year. “Their salaries range between 70 and 90 thousand denars and cutting them would bring savings of 2.5 million EUR a month. Additionally we can cut budgets meant for promotional events, perks of office such as mobile phones and similar spending from the public budget”, Stoilkovski said.