Mickoski: Exports advancing faster than imports, trade deficit declining and annual growth could reach 4%

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said exports have recorded greater growth than imports, also narrowing the trade deficit. He was referring to data recorded during the first seven months of the year.

According to Mickoski, the July figures exceeded expectations, while the increase in imports was mainly driven by high prices for oil and oil products. If prices in this sector stabilize, the prime minister expects the trade deficit to decrease further.

“The initial data for the first month of the third quarter, which is July, are truly above our expectations, particularly when it comes to exports, which, I repeat, are growing faster than imports. Imports, meanwhile, are increasing because of the high prices of oil and its products. If that part of the market were to stabilize, then that difference would be even greater and coverage would be even higher. This means that the trade deficit would be even smaller, which for me is truly another indicator that we can finally speak of a consolidated situation, considering where we were 25-26 months ago,” Mickoski said.

He stressed that these indicators had been achieved amid a difficult international climate, as the world faces energy and economic crises. At the same time, the European Union recorded growth of 1.2%, while the eurozone grew by just 1%.

Mickoski announced that gross domestic product growth was approximately 3% in 2024 and 3.5% in 2025. During the first half of this year, growth reached 3.7%, while the expectation is that the year will end with growth of between 3.5% and 4%.

“We ended 2024 with gross domestic product growth of approximately 3%, 2025 at 3.5%, and this year we are at 3.7% in the first half. We expect to end the year between 3.5% and 4% at a time when we are facing the greatest energy crisis the world has seen in living memory, the war in Ukraine, as well as the growing economic crisis in Europe, and I think this represents a truly good and positive result,” Mickoski said.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said he believes that over the next three years, Macedonia will become a much better place to live than it is currently. /tv21