The director of the State Statistical Office Apostol Simovski said today that in the given situation it is expected that there will be a decline in GDP, reduction of employment, reduction of salaries and living standards.
“It is common to expect. The question is how long it will last. If it lasts only in the second quarter, it is good, but if it lasts in the third, it will be a problem because then they would enter a recession “, said Simovski.
He pointed out that in this emergency situation they are working in difficult conditions and that they are facing problems that are in principle solvable. The only problems that are more difficult to solve, according to Simovski, are field surveys such as the labor force survey and the consumer basket survey, which they are currently unable to implement due to the emergency situation with coronavirus.
