Montenegro’s government adopted a proposal to revise this year’s state budget on 5 November 2026, increasing planned spending by 90 million euros to 3.45 billion euros. The plan also raises the deficit and planned new borrowing, increasing the state’s financing needs.
Prepared by the Ministry of Finance, the revision lifts total revenue by 25 million euros to 3.1 billion euros. It raises the planned deficit from 278 million to 348 million euros, a 70 million euro increase, or 25%. The capital budget falls from 305 million to 303 million euros.
Planned new borrowing rises from 488 million to 568 million euros, an increase of 80 million euros, or 16.4%. The total amount of funding required, calculated as the deficit and debt repayments less the increase in revenue, goes from 704 million to 784 million euros, up 80 million euros, or 11.3%.
The proposal increases debt repayments from 383 million to 393 million euros. Gross salaries for employees in the state public sector rise by 13 million euros to 740 million euros, while other personal payments for those employees increase by three million euros to 28.5 million euros.
Interest costs on previously borrowed loans are listed at 197 million euros, compared with 174 million euros previously; the proposal describes the increase as 13 million euros. Spending on software development and maintenance rises from 40 million to 45 million euros.
The revision includes 13 million euros for one-off assistance. The ministry said it provides almost 13 million euros in one-off aid for pensioners, more than 21 million euros in additional subsidies for employers hiring people with disabilities, and extra funding for education and old-age benefits.
Disability subsidies and review
The allocation for employers hiring people with disabilities increases from 24 million to 45.8 million euros, a rise described as 90%. The ministry called the changes a “continuation of responsible economic policy”, saying they direct funds towards citizens’ and state priorities while responding to needs.
In recent years, the number of people with disability decisions and the salaries employers report for them have risen sharply. Those reported salaries are used to calculate subsidies. The law does not allow the subsidy amount to be capped and does not provide for checks on employers or verification that employees perform their duties or that reported wages are realistic in relation to an employer’s commercial income.
The fund that pays the subsidies went bankrupt in July after spending its planned 24 million euros. Parliament adopted the Law on Unified Disability Assessment in October last year. Checks of previously issued disability decisions, scheduled to start on 1 July this year, were postponed to December this year.
Over the past four years, published reports have described numerous possible abuses involving the employer subsidies. In its statement on the revision, the Ministry of Finance highlighted the additional allocations but did not list the increases to spending, the deficit or the state’s need for new borrowing.
