PODGORICA (Montenegro), August 1 (SeeNews) – Montenegro's parliament adopted a revision of the 2019 state budget and a plan for the borrowing of 500 million euro ($551.9 million) to refinance existing debt, it said.
Parliament approved on July 31 a revision of the 2019 budget law and amendments to the decision on the country's borrowing programme for this year to refinance existing debt and create a fiscal reserve for repayment of obligations due next year, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
The revision will not change the planned budget deficit equivalent to 2.97% of 2019 gross domestic product (GDP), finance minister Darko Radunovic said last month.
After the revision, the 2019 budget deficit will amount to 142.6 million euro, slightly higher than the originally projected gap of 142.2 million euro. Total borrowing will be increased to 370.4 million euro from 370 million euro.
Budget expenditure under the proposal is set at 1.976 billion euro, up from original 1.970 billion euro.
Montenegro's 2018 budget deficit amounted to 159.2 million euro, equivalent to 3.5% of the country's GDP.
($ = 0.9060 euro)