The revised Budget Law has been forwarded to Presidencys

The draft law on fulfilling and changing the Law on budgetary divisions for the Kosovo Republic budget for 2020 has been adopted in second reading last Thursday in the Kosovo Assembly with 72 votes, no vote against and no abstention.

With the 2020 budget review, over 600m euros have been mobilised, of them 232m euros to cover the lack of tax revenues and 385m euros for full implementation of the Fiscal Emergency and Packy Pack for economic recovery. The 170-euro payment is expected to be made on the part of the government following the introduction of the 2020 budget revision bill.

The 2020 budget revision bill, the Assembly of Kosovo after six days of approval, has sent it to the presidency today.

Parliament Secretary Ismet Krasniqi told Gazeta Express that the budget review bill was submitted to the president today.

“has been sent today”, he said February.

The Express newspaper has asked the president's office when it is expected that President Thaci will decree this bill, but the same have returned no response.

The chairman of the Vetevendosje Movement Commission for Business and Transfer, Helleni Murati, told Gazeta Express that in voting the 2020 budget review bill, MPs from the ruling coalition have voted against the 80m-euro amendment proposed by Vetevendosje, which would ensure that this amount would only be used for the payment of 170 euros.

Murati said the government can pay 170 euros after the budget bill's entry into force, but that depends on the will and priority they make citizens, and that the government, according to him, has no priority towards citizens.

The fact that the ruling coalition voted against the 80m-euro amendment, proposed by us, would ensure that this money would only be used for the payment of 170 euros. So they have no priority towards helping citizens as they claim, otherwise they would have voted the amendment in question. Now, since the amendment for the payment of 170 euros has not been voted, the payments can be made, but that depends largely on the government's will and the prioritisation that they will make”, Murati has said in an answer to the Express Journal.

Murati further has said the 170-euro payments could be carried out in early June, but the government has deliberately stalled this process to blame the opposition.

“Pages of 170 euros have been able to be carried out since early June, as was the government's plan Kurti, but the non-legitimation government that came to power has deliberately stalled this issue, trying to blame the opposition to justify its failure to commit its”, he said.

Murati also said that both the Commission for Business and Transfere has considered reviewing the budget in record terms and is now in the hands of the government to fulfil its obligations.

“Like the Board Commission, we've reviewed budget revision and record-term amendments. There have been about 130 demands and amendments that have been considered. It is now in the hands of the government to fulfil the obligations it has taken on”, VV) deputy said.

Finance Minister Hykmete Bajrami after the revised budget vote has said that shortly after the decree of the Law by the president would execute payment of the last package.

“As the minister of finance, we have made all necessary preparations that immediately followed the decree of law by the president of the Republic of Kosovo, to execute the payments for last package measures. Through the revised budget, we have been made sure to maintain macro fiscal stability, finance the health sector to deal successfully with the COVID19 pandemic, and revive economic activity in our country”, Bajrami wrote on Facebook.

Kosovo's president under the Constitution has eight days after he accepted the law to decree it.

If the president within eight days after taking the law makes no decision to declare or return it, the law is considered declared unsigned and published in the Official Gazette.

Under the Constitution, the Law comes into force 15 days after publishing in the Official Journal of the Republic of Kosovo unless otherwise is determined by law.

The revised bill envisions the budget of 1 billion and 788m euros, while the total of revised budget spending is 2 billion and 620m euros.

Of the 108 amendments as proposed to vote, a total of 47 were adopted by MPs, while 41 amendments were not passed.