Skopje, 4 November 2024 (MIA) -- The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia has proposed amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax that would scrap VAT on basic foods, SDSM leader Venko Filipche told a press conference Monday. He said the bill, if voted into a law, would save citizens up to 2,000 denars a month.

 

"Most importantly, to implement this bill will not require any funding and retailers will not be able to evade this measure like they did the measures by Hristijan Mickoski's government," Filipche said.

 

He said the government's "fall consumer basket" market intervention, which capped profit margins on 73 food staples over the past month and a half, was "completely inefficient" and reduced costs by only 57 denars -- while wages decreased. 

 

The opposition leader also called on the government to start implementing the Unfair Trading Act, which bans unfair trade practices in the supply chain of agricultural and food products.

 

"The government should stop strategizing with the Unfair Trading Act and start implementing it immediately," Filipche said, adding that the SDSM government had developed the law that protects the interests of participants in the supply chain by ensuring more equitable business practices.

 

He also said SDSM would again submit the bill on increasing minimal wage to 450 euros. He said it had been rejected by the government coalition because of "a lack of fiscal implications." 

 

"Yet, at the same time, they accepted laws submitted by VMRO-DPMNE without any fiscal implications. We strongly condemn these double standards in Parliament," Filipche said.

 

The SDSM-led government over a period of seven years had created policies for a continual growth of salaries and a better living standard for workers, the party leader said.

 

He said citizens expected efficient policies. "This is no time for empty talk, but brave and responsible policied that will give visible results.

 

"Citizens deserve a government that cares and works in the interest of citizens. Being a responsible party, SDSM will always be on the citizens' side. We are fighting for all families to have a decent life," Filipche said.

 

Also on Monday, VMRO-DPMNE Member of Parliament Bojan Stojanovski told a press conference that VMRO-DPMNE's lawmakers would not support the SDSM bill on scrapping food VAT.

 

Stojanovski said the bill was a continuation of "the daily political bickering on economic topics by the same people who brought Macedonia to this devastated economic situation."

 

"Let me remind the public: They increased VAT on more than 2,000 items from 5 to 10 percent, doling out nutritional advice that most of those foods were unhealthy, so that was why they raised the tax," Stojanovski said.

 

He also denied that the "fall consumer basket" market intervention had resulted in decrease of costs by only 57 denars.

 

"If they listened to the unions, and if they were seriously communicating with them, they would know this is not true. Food costs decreased by 965 denars in the past 30 days," Stojanovski said.

 

He also said the Unfair Trading Act was already in force and a Committee for Protection of the Competition was being formed to oversee contracts signed in accordance with that law.

 

According to the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia, which publishes monthly estimates of the minimum expenses for an average family of four in North Macedonia, the government's market intervention partially failed to produce the desired results -- because retailers evaded it.

 

Pointing to "the retailers' greed for profit that the state needs to rein in," unionists said that vendors, once they heard about the announced margin caps, rushed to raise prices of essentials before the decision came into force.

 

This was evident from the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia monthly calculations, they said. Their estimate showed that food costs, between August 2024 and September 2024, had risen by 717 denars.

 

Then, according to their September 2024 and October 2024 estimates, the "fall consumer basket" intervention resulted in savings of 965 denars.

 

The unionists said the government neeeded to include them in the policymaking process and impose stricter controls and fines for any retailer caught breaking the rules. mr/