The Year's Second Budget Revision: 5.8 Billion Denars Less for Capital Investment, Deficit Stays at 4.1% of GDP

The second budget revision this year, and the same old logic: when the money runs short, investment gets cut first. Parliament's Committee on Finance and Budget has finished the first part of the second-reading debate and moves on to amendments from Wednesday. A total of 124 have been filed.

The numbers came from VMRO-DPMNE MP Brane Petruševski. Total revenue drops from 379.5 to 374.2 billion denars, spending from 425.8 to 420.5 billion - roughly 5.3 billion denars less on each side. The deficit stays at 46.3 billion denars, or 4.1% of GDP.

Where is the money being cut? Mostly from capital expenditure, which shrinks by around 5.8 billion denars. The government's explanation is that the planned funds are being aligned with "the real pace of the projects" and with the time left until the end of the year. Translation: the projects aren't moving at the speed they were planned to.

The opposition: a "fiscal defeat"

SDSM MP Jovana Trenčevska called the revision "an official admission of incompetence". She pointed out that tax revenue is falling from 213.2 to 209.7 billion denars and that spending was cut so the deficit wouldn't climb above its already high level. According to her, the government is citing prolonged disruption on energy markets as the reason.

Kovačevski, for his part, warned that the cuts hit the sectors that directly shape quality of life. "Citizens don't judge the health system by the amount written in the budget. They judge it by how long they wait for an examination, whether they get a diagnosis in time and whether hospitals have the equipment they need," he said, adding that cutting environmental investment delays projects for cleaner air, cleaner water and waste management.

The government says the revision is not an admission of failure but a response to changed circumstances, and that support for municipalities continues. Maybe. But when the budget gets recut twice a year, and once again the easiest thing to slash is what was supposed to be built, the question remains: how many of the promised investments will end up living only in next year's plan?