Skopje, 21 November 2025 (MIA) – The 2026 budget is both realistic and development-oriented, with each item carefully planned. The budget projects economic growth at 3.8 percent and sets the budget deficit at 3.5 percent of GDP, in line with the government’s fiscal consolidation targets, Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska told MTV on Thursday.

“It is a fact that the 2026 budget is development-oriented. Together with my colleagues at the Ministry of Finance, we managed to maximize the planning of each institution’s individual budget, while ensuring that the budget remains development-focused, fiscally consolidated, and takes into account the obligations of each institution recorded in the Ministry of Finance’s system. At the same time, we aligned these with the government’s priorities,” Dimitrieska-Kochoska said.

Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska stressed that the 2026 budget’s fiscal consolidation measures and tighter expenditure control, along with ongoing positive GDP growth, will help reduce public debt.

She added that next year the government will secure funds on domestic and international markets to settle obligations left by the previous administration, including the 2020 Eurobond and other loans, while any new borrowing will be limited to covering the budget deficit.

Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska expects public debt to fall below 60 percent of GDP sooner than 2028, as set out in the Public Debt Management Strategy.

She also stressed that the budget allocates funds for salaries and pensions according to legal mandates and includes an increase in the minimum wage.

Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska announced that the Ministry of Finance is currently preparing a new issuance of bond for citizens, which will be available soon.

Photo: Ministry of Finance