Skopje, 8 March 2025 (MIA) - The first indicators for the first quarter of this year show consolidation, and I wouldn't be surprised if growth is between 4 and 4.5 percent, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Saturday.

"The indicators from the first half of the government’s mandate show that we have reached a "zero" point, with €1.25 billion in foreign investments for the previous year, including a record €400 million in the fourth quarter, making us again the best country in the region per capita and among the top three in Europe. The GDP growth for 2024 is projected at 2.8 percent, despite some predictions that it wouldn’t even reach 1 percent," said Mickoski in response to a journalist's question during today’s visit to Sveti Nikole.

Our strategy upon taking power, he added, was divided into three steps, the first of which was to prevent a free fall, as the system and institutions were collapsing, and the government account had a deficit of €200 million, which we managed to stop.

The second phase, he explained, is to gradually reach a "zero" point, and we are practically at the end of this second step. The indicators highlighted by the State Statistical Office confirm this, showing that we have finally reached a "zero" state, even though some predicted that consolidation would take perhaps 1 or 1.5 years, Mickoski said.

Photo: MIA archive