What do the "naked" numbers say: 87.051 employees for April, and 7.284 for March did not receive a salary. In March, there were more than 4.000 companies that did not submit salary calculations at all and more than 3.000 that submitted but did not pay their employees within the legal deadline. In April, the number of companies that did not calculate salaries exceeded 6.000, and last month approximately 16.000 did not meet the deadline for payment of salaries.

The Public Revenue Office, in an attempt to protect employees, but also to prevent abuses, which were not uncommon during the pandemic, has already blocked the accounts of some companies. Therefore, they say that it will help reduce the number of violators of the law, but it can also increase the list of closed businesses. Because the increasing difficulty of collecting receivables forces them to spend the reserves (those who have them) or to take loans (until they have become too expensive).

According to the Business Network, 3.920 companies went bankrupt in the first three months of this year. And this trend is devastating if we know that last year, in 12 months, the total number of companies that put a key in the door is 6.995. The number of companies requesting subsidies for contributions is also growing: applications for more than 22.000 employees were submitted in March, and in April applications for subsidized contributions increased to 25.000. The number of companies requesting assistance with the payment of the minimum wage has increased by more than a thousand - from 1.703 in March to 2.777 in April. The necessary measure - raising the minimum wage, in turn, sparked an avalanche of strikes!

The latest data show that inflation in April 2022 accelerated and reached an annual rate of 10,5 percent, which indicates that this year inflation will be higher than expected. "Given the inflation that is above the projection and the expectations for the future dynamics of import prices that have been corrected in an upward direction, the risks for the inflation projection are also upward," the National Bank of Macedonia stated in its report.

The inflationary spiral is threatening, given the growing number of strikes. For now, the Denar exchange rate is defended with loans, but also in terms of borrowing, the psychological figure of 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) has been exceeded. Many things depend on global political and economic developments, but given our high percentage dependence on energy imports and food, an appropriate immediate response is needed! Announce increased production of sunflower in two to three years is just - planting pumpkins!

The uncertainty will be even more pronounced due to the blockades: the external one from Bulgaria - in the European integration, as well as the internal one, above all from VMRO-DPMNE with the "active blockade" (what an oxymoron !?) - of the total socio-political life. By announcing that the protests will "take to the streets".

The government is publicly expressing disappointment over the Bulgarian blackmail, and has no intention of backing down from the opposition's demand for early elections. Which is an announcement of political instability which, in any case, is not a favorable environment for solving economic problems. The opposition, on the other hand, did not offer real solutions for easier dealing with all the crises so far - health, energy, now and economic. They did not take the phrases of crime and corruption out of their mouths, at a time when their former officials are in the courtroom almost every day. And the effectiveness of their policies is best seen at the local level, where they "rule". Cutting ribbons on sports fields will not cover the gaps in the municipal budgets. Requests for assistance from the central government certainly can not be called an attempt at housework. This is probably how the newly formed economic team of Hristijan Mickoski teaches them.

Riding the wave of dissatisfaction will not solve the problems, but the nervousness of the government is obviously present, which is best evidenced by the juicy curses of the President of the Assembly Talat Xhaferi towards the officials in the parliament. The parliamentary group of VMRO-DPMNE seems to be eager to face this, unquestionably ugly act, in order to defocus their blockade on the adoption of key laws. And the adoption of the supplementary budget is yet to be adopted!

Bulgaria wrote us off, but that's why we are badly written.