Zaev: Fighting corruption is one of the Government’s strategic priorities

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev expressed belief Thursday that the projected GDP growth of 3.2 percent would be achieved by the year-end, in spite of a 16-percent realization of capital investments, because the budget is stable and all capital projects have now been unblocked.

PM Zaev told a Q&A session in Parliament that the Government is committed to improving all parameters, which is supported by the Euro-Atlantic prospects.

“The only reason that affected the poor parameters in the statistical reports was the protracted political crisis. Both the previous authorities worked and we are working on enhancing these parameters by strengthening the institutional capacities. I believe we will be successful in this, because no dramatic declines are expected, while the Finance Ministry is monitoring developments,” said Zaev.

He noted that fight against corruption is the Government’s imperative and that the law must be observed by all.

“Fighting corruption is one of the Government’s strategic priorities until it is uprooted. I urge the public to be fully committed because transparency in the procedure is of utmost importance,” emphasized Zaev.

Pertaining to the economy and the GDP growth, he said the largest problem was the lack of projects, while the existing ones had to be corrected.

“One of these projects is motorway Kicevo-Ohrid. We all know the shortcomings that emerged during the project’s implementation. Poor projects lead to a GDP drop. There is an 8-percent growth in industry in Q1, seven percent in the energy sector, close to seven percent in agriculture, 2.2 percent in building construction, while the contraction in civil engineering construction was about 40 percent,” added Zaev.

The PM voiced expectation over higher growth in Q3 and Q4, both in capital investments and civil engineering construction, because projects have been unblocked.