Skopje, 22.12.2022 – The Minister of Finance of the Republic of North Macedonia Mr. Fatmir Besimi today was invited at MTU by the rector Izet Zeqiri Ph.D. The Minister held a lecture in front of the economic students on the topic “Budget – a challenge for economic growth in times of crisis”.

Rector of MTU, Lecturer Izet Zeqiri Ph.D., in his welcoming speech said that the procedure for compiling and approving a budget is very important for students who study economics, especially the compilation of a budget at a time when the world is facing the post-pandemic crisis, the energy crisis and the crisis of the prices that the Russian invasion of Ukraine created.

Minister Besimi said that the Budget is the most important document of a state, which is approved by the citizens through their elected representatives in the Assembly.

He elaborated the process of compiling the budget, which according to him begins with the sending of projects by the ministries that make up the government, this cycle starts a year earlier, while the government selects the priority projects.

“When the Ministry of Finance accepts the government’s priority projects, it creates draft budgets, which also include preliminary debts and projects that come from EU funds, which we receive as a candidate state. Although the budget is calendar-based, and has a one-year term, it is planned for a 5-year development period,’ said Besimi. He added that the draft-budget is then placed in broad public, political and civic discussion. For the next year, funds are foreseen for amortization of the pandemic crisis, the energy crisis and the increase in prices, also economic growth of 2.9 percent, inflation of 7.1 percent and budget deficit of 4.6 percent.

After the lecture, the Minister held an interactive discussion with economics students and professors.

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