Eurasia Press & News
Macedonia’s budget needs to be urgently revised as the country spends more than it receives, the International Monetary Fund’s representative to the country, Bert Van Selm, said in the local media.
He said this year’s first trimester shows a forecasted 13 per cent growth in revenue, on which the budget was based, was not achieved, local Makfax news agency reported.
“The expenditure side will have to be aligned with the revenue,” Van Selm said at a round table discussion in Skopje, set up by the Conrad Adenauer Foundation and the European Business Association.
The news comes as speculation grows that the government is seriously considering asking for a loan from the IMF to cover the current budget deficit.
The IMF stands ready to help Macedonia in a way the government deems to be appropriate, said the IMF’s representative. In 2007 Macedonia made an early repayment of its IMF debt and has since made no new arrangements.
Despite warnings from experts that the weak economy cannot support a spending-oriented budget, the parliament last year voted through the largest budget this country has had in its 18 years of independence. The €2.5 billion 2009 budget includes about €500 million in capital investments.
The government has defended the budget saying it would provide jobs for the companies otherwise facing lower demand for their work.
But last month the government admitted it was having problems with its current account and started issuing one-month-long state bonds almost weekly to raise money from the home economy.
However, during this month’s local and presidential election campaign, the government promised many capital projects across the country.
