“Health” is the key word in the 2021 draft budget, because public health, healthy economy and healthy finances and society in general is a top priority, Finance Minister Fatmir Besimi said Tuesday.
Elaborating the next year’s draft budget in Parliament at the Financing and Budget Committee, he said it is one of the most crucial and most comprehensive documents MPs are adopting, which also includes all the policies and measures taken in the coming period.
Besimi called on the MPs to initiate and engage in constructive discussions all the while sharing ideas to find the best solutions.
According to him, the 2021 budget has three main objectives – strengthening of the financing of the health protection system and public health protection, to support economic stabilization and laying of the foundations of a solid economic recovery and accelerated growth, and uninterrupted financing of the main state functions and support to reforms in the judiciary and the Euro-Atlantic integration efforts.
The 2021 budget, the Minister said, introduces a novelty – a five-year framework that is based on three medium-term platforms despite the challenges and uncertainty looming due to the COVID-19 crisis. They include the 2021-2025 Fiscal Consolidation, the 2021-2025 economic recovery and sustainable growth strategy, and the 2021-2025 Public Investment Plan.
“We aim midterm to accelerate economic growth from 2%-2.5%, recorded in the past decade, to 4%-5% annual average growth in the coming five year while achieving fiscal consolidation in order to secure sustainable and inclusive growth,” said Besimi.
To that end, he added, efforts will be made to strengthen the private sector’s competitiveness and human capital investments.
The government, according to Besimi from 2021 to 2025 will focus on implementing capital infrastructure projects in road and railroad infrastructure, energy and utility infrastructure, as well as capital investments to improve the conditions in the healthcare, educational and social system, agriculture, and environmental protection. “To be more precise, capital projects estimated at a total of EUR 3.1 billion are planned for between 2021 and 2025. Of those, EUR 1.16 billion will be set aside from the budget, EUR 112.8 million will be provided through IPA funds, and EUR 1.84 billion from loans from international financial institutions,” he said.
According to Minister Besimi, the 2021 draft budget is realistic.
“The coming fiscal year is characterized by unpredictability as a result of the health pandemic affecting the world, implications on the budget and the economy as a whole. Despite the existing risks due to the health crisis, but having in mind the four stimulus packages, the 2021 budget is expected to secure sustainability of domestic economic activity and job protection, certain sectors to recover, social transfers to become stabilized, and policies to be established that will be beneficial in implementing an exit strategy in order the Macedonian economy’s positive trends to be resumed,” he stressed.
The 2021 budget is projected at 247.5 billion denars (EUR 4 billion). Revenues are expected to rise by almost 8.3%. It will contribute to the budgetary deficit – at 8.5% in 2020 – to drop to 4.9% of the GDP. The draft budget also projects funds in amount of EUR 50 million intended for possible future measures needed to tackle the COVID crisis as a way to aid the economy and the citizens.
The Parliament’s Financing and Budget Committee has 10 days to debate the draft budget before it is forwarded for a debate at a plenary session. A total of 528 amendments have been submitted, including 390 by the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE.
