The legal deadline for submission of the 2021 budget proposal to the parliament for further consideration expires on Sunday and not only that – we don’t even know when it’s going to be adopted by the government, as it [govt] hasn’t been set up yet. In his latest interview, Prime Minister-designate, Mr Zdravko Krivokapić, briefly said they are going to work hard because they’re well aware of the problem with determining the budget for the next year, writes Dnevne Novine daily.
Formation of the government still pending
The government is supposed to send the proposal for the budget until 15 November (it’s the legal deadline), and the proposal is first being discussed by the parliamentary committees, then on the plenum. It happened before that the proposal for the budget was late, but not with long delays.
Today, the situation is somewhat different. The new government does not endorse the proposal of the previous government, so the budget will be ‘on stand-by’ for a while. The fact that the government is going to formed on 2 December is even more worrying.
First exam for future finance minister
We know nothing about the behind-the-scenes actions. PM-designate, Mr Zdravko Krivokapić, noted on several occasions that the economy would be in the spotlight of the new government, and that he engaged the team dealing with those issues. Future Finance Minister, Mr Milojko Spajić, will have his hands full dealing with the budget, as it’s going to be his first examination assessed by citizens, who need to know how their money is going to be managed.
Asset allocation
Budget preparations for the next year start in January of the calendar year. The Ministry of Finance, headed by the incumbent Minister Radunović, has been working actively on the preparations for the budget from the beginning of the year, but it’s questionable whether the new government is going to accept any of it. Dnevne Novine daily asked the Ministry of Finance if they’re going to respect the procedure and submit the budget proposal, but received no response to date.
