Unblocking Macedonia's political stalemate to give boost to economic growth
Xinhua, January 4, 2017 Adjust font size:
The political crisis here has to end so that Macedonia can return to greater economic growth and attract more investments, local media quoted Macedonian Finance Minister Kiril Minoski as saying in an interview with Sitel TV on Wednesday.
However, the head of public finances stressed that despite the challenges and difficulties, the Macedonian economy had recorded a positive performance during 2016 and continued to attract foreign investors, even more so than in the previous year.
"It is necessary to have an appropriate conclusion to the political crisis as soon as possible, so that we can focus on the main priority for our country and that is economic growth, opening new jobs, and improving the living standard," Minoski stressed during the interview.
According to the minister, the political crisis had not only affected consumption, but also the mood for investment and, as a result, had had a negative effect on economic growth.
Earlier parliamentary elections were held in Macedonia on Dec. 11.
The elections were called two years early as a way out of the prolonged political crisis which started last year, after the main opposition party SDSM accused the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE of illegal wiretapping and corruption.
On the other hand, the minister reiterated the government's positive forecast for this year, highlighting that Macedonia was expected to grow by 3.0 percent in 2017. Endit