Government approves second budget rebalance as fuel subsidies drain state coffers
Government cuts 92.5 million euros from investments; revenues and spending lowered by €86 million each while planned deficit stays at €750 million.
The Government of North Macedonia has approved a second budget rebalance that cuts planned investments after a shortfall created largely by reduced fuel taxes and subsidy spending.
Investment cuts and new borrowing
The rebalance reduces investment allocations by 92.5 million euros and trims both revenues and expenditures by the same amount — 86 million euros each — leaving the planned fiscal shortfall at 750 million euros. New borrowing included in the package is earmarked for interest payments and to repay a portion of foreign debt.
Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska Kocoska said the extra borrowing had already been foreseen in the previous rebalance and warned that there are no reserve funds available for additional aid: she referred to such reserves as "buffers" and said they do not exist.
SDSM warned that, as a result of the fiscal squeeze, "there will be no money until the end of the year for salaries, pensions and the state's day-to-day expenses." The minister, however, insisted that funds for regular payments are secured.
Kocoska did not provide a full list of projects that will receive smaller allocations nor new deadlines for their implementation. The government said the largest additional sums will go to health care and social protection.
Photo: press material from the event
