London - Macedonia faces economic collapse this year in the aftermath of war in Kosovo, economists predicted yesterday.
The Economist Intelligence Unit, a think-tank affiliated to the Economist magazine, predicted that the Macedonian economy would contract by 15 per cent in real terms in 1999, making the country the "greatest loser" from the war apart from Yugoslavia itself.
"Among front-line states in the Balkans, Macedonia is set to bear the brunt of the effects of the war because of its heavy dependence on Yugoslavia both as a market for its products and as a transit route to the EU," the EIU said in a statement.