Two minimum wages were insufficient to cover the basic consumer basket for the month of September. The Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia – SSM calculated that 120,000 citizens do not earn even half of the necessary basic expenses, that is, they work for the minimum wage.
Their calculations showed that for the month of September, a minimum of MKD 48,379 were necessary for the average monthly needs of a family of four. Although they note that in September the consumer basket became cheaper by MKD 966, compared to the previous month, as a result of the decision on guaranteed prices, however, now with the re-increase of the VAT on a certain number of items, from 5 to 10 percent, that effect will be nullified.
The SSM reminds that the data from the State Statistics Office in 2020 show that as much as 21.8 percent of the population in the country lives in poverty
