Mickoski pushes new €1.3 billion debt outside the rebalance: Filipche demands answer on the Budget Law
The leader of SDSM showed a document for new borrowing and warned that total debt could approach €12 billion; the Government says the money is needed for old obligations, the deficit and investments.
New borrowing of €1.3 billion, which according to Venko Filipche is not foreseen in the latest rebalance, raises a question the Government must not close with general explanations: on which decision, for what purpose and under what conditions will the money be borrowed?
At a press conference in the Assembly, the leader of SDSM showed a document he said was passed as information and a need for borrowing at the Government session of 31 August. Filipche asked Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska to explain why this sum is not in the rebalance and whether the planned procedure is fully in accordance with the Law on Budgets.
"Here is the document that passed as information and the need to borrow the country an additional €1.3 billion," Filipche said.
This is an opposition claim, not a final legal conclusion that a law has been broken. Precisely for that reason, the burden is on the Government to publish the decision, the legal basis, the borrowing instrument, the interest rate, the repayment term and the precise allocation of the funds. Every new billion without full documentation increases distrust and shifts the bill onto future budgets.
Filipche warns of debt close to €12 billion
According to the calculation presented by the leader of SDSM, with the additional €1.3 billion the total debt would approach a record €12 billion, or about 65 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). He accused the authorities of creating nearly €4 billion in new obligations in just over two years and said that the borrowing has not been accompanied by results that citizens can clearly see.
Filipche attacked Mickoski's economic logic: if the economy is truly growing and the budget is generating more domestic revenues, then, he said, the need for new debt should decrease, not continually increase. He further alleged that part of the borrowed funds could end up, instead of capital projects, in "party tenders." For this serious political allegation, no evidence for specific companies or contracts was presented at the press conference, so SDSM has an obligation to back up each such case with documentation.
Mickoski: Inherited debts and eurobonds are being repaid
Prime Minister Mickoski defended the borrowing policy, arguing that the state must repay old debts and eurobonds, cover the budget deficit and finance capital investments and current expenditures. He pointed to obligations of €700 million in 2026, €500 million in 2027 and another €700 million in 2028, and he also claims that GDP growth and industrial production confirm the positive direction.
However, repaying old debt with new debt does not eliminate the need for public oversight. On the contrary, when it comes to €1.3 billion, the Government must show how much is refinancing, how much is for the deficit, which capital projects are financed and what measurable return citizens will receive.
Filipche set the political line clearly: Mickoski cannot at the same time proclaim economic success and seek a record new borrowing without a detailed account. The answer should not be another press conference, but a public document in which every euro has a purpose, a term and a responsible person.
Photo: frame from the SDSM press conference
