Skopje, 6 October 2023 (MIA) - The package of anti-crisis measures for management of the energy crisis weighs EUR 760 million, with 90 percent going to energy crisis management and only 7 percent for food management, according to results from the Finance Think think-tank measure mapping.

"Of the total amount, 12.6 percent are intended for supporting vulnerable households, including measures for the most vulnerable. Subsidizing electricity and heating was one of the most important measures. Results show that citizens' purchasing power was protected and that if such measures were not put in place, their purchasing power would have been compromised," said Finance Think's Blagica Petreski at economic forum "From Crisis to Solutions: Have We Become a More Resilient Economy Today" on Friday.

She added that the measures could have been designed better in terms of their linearity.

"The measures were largely linear and protected households that could withstand the crisis. In the future, I expect measures to be more effective in targeting, with the help of the VAT, which was reduced from 18 to 5 percent," Petreski noted.

In the food sector, companies were significantly affected by the increase in imports for raw materials by 20 to 50 percent, if one takes into consideration that more than 50 percent of raw materials are being imported.

"This shows that in the future, measures should be aimed at long-term and greater sustainability of our economy by targeting and investing in domestic production of food and raw material. This includes investments in domestic electricity production and the system for absorption of domestic electricity production," emphasized Petreska, adding that the measures helped with domestic electricity production. ssh/ik/

Photo: MIA