The government adopted the amended budget revision for 2026, and the direction of the money says more than any press release. Funds are being redirected toward welfare, agriculture and capital projects - at least on paper, the layout looks like an answer to the questions citizens raise the loudest.

The numbers draw the picture. Total revenues are projected at 379.5 billion denars, expenditures at 425.8 billion. The budget deficit stays at 46.3 billion denars, or 4.1 percent of gross domestic product, with projected economic growth of 3.5 percent. Capital investment is raised to around 46 billion denars - a 14.5 percent increase over the original budget.

Where does the extra money go? Toward agricultural subsidies and support for women farmers, toward rail transport, sport, pupil and student welfare, health and social protection. Funds are also earmarked for a national SOS line and two new centers for victims of domestic and gender-based violence, while spending on goods and services is cut.

At first glance, this is a budget that listens. Money for the most vulnerable, for farmers, for victims of violence - it's hard to be against any of those line items. The Finance Ministry stresses that the revision also incorporates the amendments adopted in the committee debate, which at least formally means parliament had a say.

But a budget revision is a document of intentions, not of results. A 4.1 percent deficit and capital investment up 14.5 percent sound ambitious - the question is whether those 46 billion for capital projects will actually be spent, or whether they'll stay a figure in a table as they have so many times before. When the year ends, the real test won't be how much was promised in July, but how much was delivered by December. Until then, the budget that listens still has to prove it also gives.