Macedonia Opens First Discount Store for Poorest Citizens

Local operator of outdoor fruit and vegetable markets Skopski Pazar AD (SP Market) was the first to open a SOS store in Skopje that would offer price discounts of 15 to 20 percent, the government said in a statement on its website.

Some 15,000 social welfare beneficiaries from Skopje can receive a special card for shoping in the SOS stores in the amount of up to 5,000 denars ($121.4/81.8 euro) per month, the statement said.

Retail chain Tinex-MT DOO will be included in the government project later.

Over 53,000 people were eligible for receiving social welfare benefits in Macedonia at the end of last year, according to Labour Ministry data. The number of people living below the poverty line in Macedonia fell slightly to 28.7% in 2008 from 29.4% a year earlier.

The average net salary was 20,044 denars ($487/328 euro) in Macedonia in September, up by a nominal 18.7% from a year earlier.

Macedonia’s November consumer price index (CPI) dropped by 2.3% year-on-year after falling by 2.4% in October, statistics data showed.

The official jobless rate in Macedonia in the second quarter was 31.9%, down from 33.8% a year earlier. Macedonia has a population of two million people.

(1 euro = 61 129 Macedonian denars)