Skopje, 11 March 2025 (MIA) — World Bank Country Manager for Kosovo and for North Macedonia Massimiliano Paolucci spoke to lawmakers about fiscal rules in the EU and their monitoring ahead of Tuesday's "Fiscal Governance in the European Union and the Role of the Fiscal Council" conference organized by the Fiscal Council in North Macedonia and the World Bank.

In his remarks given before the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee members and Committee on Economic Affairs, Labor and Energy Policy members, Paolucci said conference participants would be discussing topics of global importance, including fiscal crises that have hit the region and the world.

Paolucci said the country's public debt had risen sharply and was now at 62.4 percent of GDP, or 14 percent above its prepandemic level. This was due to persistent fiscal deficits caused by the pandemic, which have averaged 5 percent per year, he noted.

He said new fiscal rules and institutions, through mandates, could help establish sound public finances if independent fiscal institutions evaluated the macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts of the central government.

However, according to the World Bank country manager, introducing fiscal rules without the political will to implement them cannot guarantee responsible fiscal policies.

Paolucci said other countries in the Western Balkans were also taking steps to improve their fiscal governance. He said the accession process to the EU required reliable public accounts and statistics.

Conference participants, he said, would also talk about the significance of the EU fiscal governance framework and its implications on national fiscal frameworks.

The conference will take place at the Skopje Marriott Hotel. It is funded by the European Union Trust Fund on Strengthening Fiscal Governance in the Western Balkans. mr/