Sanja Lukarevska: €1 billion gap in the budget and same shortfall in the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund
The SDSM MP says the rebalance contains cuts that undermine investment projects and hits multiple ministries, from environment to health.
Sanja Lukarevska, a member of parliament for SDSM, warned during the "Top Tema" debate on TV Telma that the state currently faces a budget gap of one billion euros and that the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund also lacks the same amount.
Capital spending lag and targeted cuts
"So far the execution of capital investments, according to what we see on the Ministry of Finance website from all budget users, is 57.1 percent. I think the Ministry of Local Self-Government stands out the most with almost 5.7 percent realization of capital investments, and that is the ministry that should manage the units of local self-government," Lukarevska said.
She criticized what she called illogical reductions in the budget rebalance and argued that the document lacks the investment thread that characterised the debate over the first rebalance.
"So cuts are being made from the wastewater treatment plant, cuts are being made from air quality, air pollution will now knock on our door as winter approaches, and we have an increase of budget funds for vehicle procurement by 79.1 percent compared to the previous rebalance. So we cut from the strategy to fight air pollution; to the Ministry of Environment we will give money to buy new vehicles. On the other hand we say that we are not indulging, that we are not spending more than planned," she said.
Lukarevska also listed reductions in the Ministry of Education budget, including cuts affecting the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering (FINKI), the "Mother Teresa" institutions, reconstruction of primary schools, funding for sports halls in primary schools, reconstruction of secondary schools, student dormitories, and energy efficiency measures in student residences.
"At the Ministry of Health we have €100 million less in capital investments. There is no word about the clinical centre, about the hospital in Shtip, in Kichevo, cuts to rare diseases, etc. At the Ministry of Economy cuts are in the program for small and medium enterprises and cuts affect a topic that concerns everyone, demography," Lukarevska emphasized.
Photo: press material from the event
