SKOPJE (Macedonia), November 9 (SeeNews) – Macedonia turned to a preliminary budget deficit of 6.743 billion denars ($163.2 million/109.1 million euro) in the first nine months of 2009, from a surplus of 10.913 billion denars in the same period last year, Finance Ministry data showed on Monday.
Budget revenue amounted to 94.8 billion denars through September, while spending totaled 101.6 billion denars, the ministry said in a statement on its website.
Details follows (in millions of denars):
|
9-Mo'09 |
9-Mo'08 |
Total revenue |
94,832 |
101,978 |
- Tax revenue |
51,809 |
57,711 |
- Non-tax revenue |
12,871 |
27,559 |
Total spending |
101,575 |
91,065 |
- Salaries |
17,002 |
15,071 |
- Social transfers |
45,936 |
42,036 |
- Debt repayment |
5,115 |
4,387 |
Balance |
-6,743 |
+10,913 |
The Macedonian government on Friday the draft budget for next year, setting a deficit equivalent to 2.5% of the projected gross domestic product (GDP), slightly lower than the 2.8% gap planned for this year.
The budget gap for next year is projected at 10.460 billion denars. The government targets real economic growth of 2.0% next year, compared to a revised forecast for a 0.6% GDP contraction in 2009.
Macedonia is pursuing a tight fiscal policy, attaching priority importance to macroeconomic stability and coping with the consequences of the global economic turmoil this year. The country has a status as an official EU candidate since December 2005. The European Commission recently recommended the start of entry talks with Macedonia due to its progress on the path to accession.
(1 euro = 61.6495 Macedonian denars)