CEA organized an informal working breakfast with journalists and civil society representatives on the topic: Sustainability of the Public Debt of RSM.

Public debt is increasing in absolute value and there is no sustainability. The limit of 50% for public debt sustainability is high for North Macedonia. RSM’s fiscal strategy is overly optimistic about the sustainability and reduction of public debt. The simulations show that the primary deficit and interest rates are the main determinants of the increase in public debt. With the latest rebalance, the deficit has not decreased at all.

CSOs emphasized the need for more dynamic policies to reduce public debt such as: the final adoption of the envisaged new law on budgets that would provide a more advanced framework for the public finance system and further streamline public spending such as subsidies. On the other hand, the revenue side also needs to be more efficient in planning to reduce the primary deficit.