North Macedonia Cuts Fuel VAT to Curb Rising Costs

North Macedonia announced on Sunday that it has nearly halved the value-added tax (VAT) on fuel in a bid to stabilise pump prices amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, according to the government.

VAT on petrol and diesel will be reduced from 18 to 10 per cent, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told reporters following a government meeting on the matter.

With the temporary measure, set to take effect at midnight on Monday for a two-week period, “we expect the price of petrol to remain unchanged, while the price of diesel would increase by around three to three and a half denars (0.04 to 0.05 euros, $0.05 to 0.06) per liter”, he said.

In the Balkan country, petrol and diesel prices stood at approximately 1.40 euros and 1.49 euros per litre respectively on Sunday.

Global oil markets closed higher on Friday, though prices remained below the $120-per-barrel mark, a level approached several times since the conflict began three weeks ago.

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