SDSM accuses Koçoska and Mickoski of falsifying public debt data amid Alta Bank scandal

The Macedonian opposition party SDSM accuses Koçoska and Mickoski of falsifying public debt figures amid the criminal scandal surrounding Alta Bank, to conceal what it calls the criminal gang’s historic debt.

According to SDSM, as the Alta Bank scandal shakes public opinion and Mickoski and Slaveski face calls to take responsibility, Mickoski’s ministers have panicked. The party claims they are trying to protect him by any means, including falsifying economic data.

SDSM says that on the day the Alta Bank scandal became public, Finance Minister Koçoska committed another criminal act by manipulating official public debt figures in an unprecedented manner. According to Koçoska’s announcement, public debt in the third quarter of this year was more than 300 million euros higher than in the second quarter, reaching 11 billion euros in September.

The opposition party points out that, although public debt increased, its share of GDP was lower: from 58.8% in the second quarter to 56.6% in the third. SDSM claims that the Ministry of Finance has not falsified figures so scandalously since independence—not even during the time of fugitive Gruevski.

According to SDSM, Koçoska herself publicly confirmed yesterday what the party describes as the scandalous falsification of public debt data. The party says this action coincides with the European Commission’s bleakest report and is further evidence of chaos in the institutions.