SDSM: The government has funds for luxury, but not for easing citizens’ lives

The Macedonian opposition party SDSM has accused the Mickoski-led government of spending millions of euros on spectacles, tenders and luxury while families face constantly rising prices and wages that are insufficient to cover expenses.

According to SDSM, fuel prices have exceeded 100 denars per liter, while food products are becoming more expensive every day. In this situation, Mickoski’s government, whose leader the opposition describes as a fraudster, has approved delayed and incomplete measures that, according to the party, have had no real impact on household budgets.

SDSM says it has proposed a package of measures aimed at delivering concrete price reductions, including the complete abolition of excise duty on fuel and a reduction in VAT from 18 to 5 percent.

The opposition says that if its proposals are implemented, a citizen earning the average wage would be able to buy up to 205 liters more gasoline compared with the measures proposed by the government. According to SDSM, this would constitute direct assistance that households would feel immediately.

The party also believes that a significant reduction in fuel prices would lower transportation costs and create opportunities for food and other basic products to become cheaper.