First tranche amounting to EUR 80 million out of the total of EUR 160 million as EU Macro-Financial Assistance, aimed at overcoming COVID-19 crisis, will be transferred next week. This was underlined at the first official meeting of Minister of Finance Fatmir Besimi with the new EU Ambassador to North Macedonia David Geer.

In addition, the EU, under the Resilience Agreement, has provided grant funds in the amount of EUR 40 million. These funds will be intended for new interest-free credit lines and grants for support to small- and medium sized companies, as well as grant as support to unemployed persons.

During the meeting, Minister of Finance pointed out the strong commitment to EU membership, as well as the readiness to implement reforms that will bring us closer to this purpose.

– EU integration will provide opportunities for higher growth. We are fully dedicated to enhancing this strategic commitment by laying firm foundations that will provide for realizing the crucial reforms. Efficient and effective public finance management is a condition for the country’s accession to the EU, whereby we are currently focused on creating a system that will provide for strategic long-term budget planning and measuring the performance through performance indicators. We are especially committed to implementing structural reforms aimed at boosting competitiveness and job creation, all this being part of the Economic Reform Program preparation process. This is one of the fundamentals in the EU integration process – Minister Besimi said.

By wishing the Ambassador a success in his new duties, the Minister expressed gratitude to his team for the so-far wholehearted support aimed at reaching the European values more quickly and joining the EU, expressing thereby hope that this support will continue with even greater intensity when the respective negotiations are to commence.

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