Macedonia approves budget rebalance, raising deficit and funding infrastructure

Finance Minister Gordana Dimitariska‑Kochoska announced that the Macedonian cabinet will consider a budget rebalance, marking the first upward correction of the public‑finance deficit. The adjustment is driven by higher capital‑expenditure needs for infrastructure, agriculture, education and social protection. The revised budget raises total revenues to about €6.17 billion and expenditures to roughly €6.91 billion, pushing the deficit to around 4.1 % of GDP (approximately 46.1 billion denars). To offset some costs, the government plans to cut excise taxes by roughly 1.5 billion denars and adjust VAT, though precise calculations remain difficult because of indirect effects.

Opposition parties (SDSM) responded by claiming the budget is effectively empty, stating that the full annual deficit has already been spent in the first six months and warning that the increased borrowing will burden citizens with higher taxes and debt service. They cite legal limits that the deficit should not exceed 3 % of GDP and criticize the allocation of funds to party‑linked contracts.