April 1 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's finance minister Nina Angelovska said on Wednesday that the budget deficit envisaged for 2020 could widen by up to 1.3 billion euro ($1.42 billion) due to the coronavirus crisis.
The 2020 budget deficit, previously estimated at around 300 million euro, will increase by between 700 million euro and 1.3 billion euro as a result of the expected reduction in income from taxes, Angelovska told a press conference.
In March, the country's income from taxes was 11% lower compared to last year. However, the sharpest fall is expected in the second quarter, with an estimated decrease of between 40% and 65% on the year.
Angelovska reiterated the country's plans to borrow almost 600 million euro from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and through a bridge-to-bond facility to deal with the crisis. The government expects to receive these funds by May.
North Macedonia is currently in a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak. The country has confirmed 354 coronavirus cases as of Wednesday.
($ = 0.914921 euro)