Prolonged political crisis to reduce Macedonia's economic growth: central bank

Macedonian central bank said on Thursday that a prolonged political crisis will reduce the country's economic growth from the projected 3.5 percent to 1.6 percent this year, local media reported.

The political crisis will be accompanied by reduced consumption and investments, a slowdown in crediting, lower exports and foreign currency reserves, the news website Independent.mk reported, citing Dimitar Bogov, governor of the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia (NBRM).

The NBRM governor said there had been a large withdrawal of deposits from banks and purchase of foreign currency by citizens in April, but the situation had stabilized as of this week.

Macedonia's political woes began in 2015 when a main opposition party accused then prime minister Nikola Gruevski of ordering "massive wiretapping." Gruevski stepped down as prime minister in January this year, paving the way for early elections on June 5, but the opposition has announced a boycott, saying it fears electoral fraud. In April, President Gjorge Ivanov issued an order to end the corruption inquiry against dozens of people, including top politicians and businessmen. Endit