Montenegrin lawmaker Boris Mugoša criticised praise for the budget revision, which he said was being presented as securing tens of millions of euros for healthcare and people with disabilities despite earlier warnings about inadequate allocations. The European Alliance parliamentary group leader argued that much of the additional money was going to settle debts to vulnerable groups, rather than provide new support.
During debate on this year’s budget, Mugoša had warned that the amounts set aside for healthcare and people with disabilities would not be enough. “Budgets should reflect realistically needed amounts, not rely on reallocations and revisions later in the year,” he said.
He argued that spending for those groups should have been planned properly from the outset, while reducing what he described as irrational spending on official travel, service contracts and consulting services. Instead, in his view, the parliamentary majority had met narrow party interests and needs, increasing the budget deficit.
Mugoša had proposed a conclusion alongside the annual budget requiring the government to provide additional funds for healthcare and people with disabilities if needed. Parliament adopted it. But he said the money now addressed debts to the most vulnerable, who had faced numerous problems during the year because the budget had not provided enough. He described the funds as debt payments, not additional support.
Pensions and economic indicators
The government has decided to provide one-off assistance to pensioners. Mugoša characterised the measure as modest, non-systemic and essentially pre-election spending. He argued that the money should instead have increased the base used to calculate pensions, which would have improved pensioners’ position to some extent.
The average pension is about 55% of the average wage, according to Mugoša, and is lower than the minimum wage paid to employees with primary education. His proposed alternative was to raise the pension calculation base rather than make a one-off payment.
Mugoša also described this year’s projected GDP growth, compared with earlier forecasts, as a positive indicator requiring further analysis. He considered inflation likely to account for a significant part of the projected increase, and noted that inflation in Montenegro was higher than in most European Union and regional countries.
Montenegro needs annual GDP growth of 4% to 5% continuously for about a decade to approach the European Union’s average standard, Mugoša said. He presented the growth projection as a figure that should be examined alongside inflation, rather than taken on its own.
Monthly budget surplus and deficit indicators can be misleading because they depend on the timing of payments for state obligations, Mugoša warned. The state pays a significant invoiced amount in the final two months of the year, affecting the monthly figures. The timing of those payments was the reason he cautioned against relying on individual monthly balances to assess the budget position.
