Macedonia Budget Cut "Unrealistic"

They accused the government, which proposed the measure, of draining money from the economy and tax payers and failing to invest in key development projects.

“Is this the reason why you reduce the capital investments and at the same time the Ministry of Interior gets €11 million more?” MP Jovan Manasievski from the Liberal Party said. “You have created a police state. You now spread populism and social demagogy.”
 
Most of the cuts, planned at 3.2 per cent from the total budget, are proposed in the area of capital investment- 23 per cent, and material expenditures- 5 per cent. The opposition sees this as a sign that the cut will hamper development. The draft budget cuts also propose more money for the health and the social sector.

“Your policy has drained the pension fund to an alarming state where there is no money for pensions,” Marjanco Nikolov from the main opposition Social Democrats claimed. He said that the current state expenses for salaries and pensions will continue to be problematic.
 
The opposition urged the government to withdraw the current draft cut projected at some €74 million and  propose a bigger, more realistic, cut.
 
They say that a cut of 3.2 percent is unrealistic in times when revenues were five percent less than had been anticipated. Lawmakers have accused the government of deliberately hiding its debt to show that the budget deficit will stay at 2.5 per cent of GDP, while in reality it might be 3 to 4 percent.
 
It is easy to criticize when you have no responsibility and innacurate estimates, Finance Mininster Zoran Stavreski said in defense of the planned cut. He said that the 4.5 percent of gross domestic product directed towards capital investment is enough and more than the previous government accomplished.

Some local observers say that the effects of the Greek economic crisis might be crucial in determining whether this will be the only cut in the Macedonian budget this year.

After the draft spending cuts, which will almost certainly pass through parliament, the Macedonian budget will total some 2.4 billion euros. Macedonia's economy last year plunged by some one percent and observers predict a slow and painful recovery for this year. If all goes well more steady progress is expected from next year.