Macedonia's Parliament Cuts 2009 Budget Revenue, Spending Targets by 3.2%

The budget rebalance is aimed at adjusting spending to the country’s real economic condition and the lowered budget revenue, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on its website.

It said GDP will contract by 0.6% this year rather than grow by 1.5% as projected previously. Macedonia's economy posted a nominal contraction of 1.4% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2009, compared to a 6.7% growth a year earlier, the country's Statistics Office has said.

Macedonia's average annual inflation forecast for 2009 was lowered  to 0.1% in the revised version of the budget from1.0% projected  previously. The country's September consumer price index fell by 1.4% year-on-year after falling at the same rate in August.

The second budget revision so far this year calls for revenue of 138.459 billion denars ($3.3 billion/2.2 billion euro) and spending of 149.5 billion denars, the statement said. Budget deficit will be cut by some 300 million denars from previously projected 11 billion denars.

The first budget revision was conducted in April, when revenue and spending targets were both slashed  by 9.0%.

(1 euro=61.7096 Macedonian denars)