MACEDONIA IS BORROWING, DEVELOPMENT IS LAGGING?

Public debt up by 1.86 billion euros in just two years, low wages and big questions about economic development.

Macedonia is still the country with the lowest minimum wage in the region. While citizens face high prices for food, energy and basic necessities every day, public debt keeps rising. From June 2024 to June 2026, public debt rose from roughly 8.87 to 10.73 billion euros. That's an additional 1.86 billion euros of net borrowing. Which major infrastructure, industrial or energy project was completed in this period, and how much new economic value does it create? How much of the borrowed money went into productive investment, and how much into covering current spending and repaying old obligations? The government talks about economic growth, but GDP growth on its own is not proof of a successful development policy. It is especially important to establish how much of the growth comes from new production, exports and investment, and how much is tied to public spending and borrowing. Borrowing is not development in itself. There is development when borrowed money creates new value, better jobs, higher wages and infrastructure that will serve future generations. If public debt keeps growing faster than the economy's ability to generate revenue, Macedonia could face serious fiscal risks. Higher interest, harder refinancing of obligations and less room for healthcare, education and social protection are real dangers that must not be ignored. Macedonia cannot keep replacing economic development with new loans forever. So the question for the government is simple: what exactly did citizens get for the additional 1.86 billion euros of public debt? Citizens have the right to know not only how much the state is borrowing, but also who will pay that money back, when it falls due, and what economic benefit it will leave behind.