According to the analysis conducted by the Institute for Economic Policy, Finance Think, during 2020 the informal economy known as the gray economy, has swallowed over 2.5 billion euros, funds that instead of being collected in the state budget, end up in the pockets of private persons.

The informal economy, according to this analysis, comprises 23.2 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product of Northern Macedonia.

From this institute they say that although it is to be estimated the trend of reduction of the informal economy in the country by 8.4 percent from 2006 when the informal economy accounted for 31.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, there is still a lot of work to be done to meet the standards of European countries.

Take Croatia as an example, a country where the informal economy accounts for 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product.

Bojan Srbinoski from the Institute Think Finance, during the presentation of this analysis has enumerated the factors that contribute to the high level of informal economy in Northern Macedonia compared to developed European countries.

"The reasons have to do with corruption, corruption at high levels, lack of political stability and as a third factor I would have emphasized the way the state spends citizens' money.

"Due to the low tax morale, there is no tolerance among the citizens themselves to denounce informality", says Srbinovski.

Experts on economic issues say that in addition to legal regulations, awareness of citizens about the consequences of the informal economy is of particular importance.

Alaudin Zeqiri, a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tetova and former senior official of the Public Revenue Office, told Radio Free Europe that the only and most effective front in combating this phenomenon remains the citizens and the non-selective controls by relevant institutions.

"Even though we are dealing with a problem, an old phenomenon, the state must offer new solutions to have an efficient non-selective fight against controls, be they capital, tax or monetary," he said.

Meanwhile, from the Institute for Economic Policy, Finance Think, emphasize that the strategy to combat undeclared work and tax evasion, exists on paper, but there are many problems during practical implementation.

In this regard, businessmen emphasize that it is necessary to carry out systematic controls over economic entities, which do not work according to legal regulations, otherwise there is a risk of closing down serious entities due to the fight against unfair competition and great difficulties to survive. in shop.

"This phenomenon occurs more in times of crisis, so the Government must be careful given that this crisis has hit everyone, where the most exposed are small and medium companies.

"Exactly the phenomenon of informal economy can appear in these companies, either as a whole or in some segments of their activity", says Durim Zeqiri from the Chamber of Commerce of Northwest Macedonia./REL/