Macedonian parliament okays changes to law on budget

The Macedonian parliament on Monday adopted changes to the law on the budget which foresees accelerated procedures for giving financial aid in cases of crises.

After devastating floods hit Macedonia at the beginning of this month, causing huge damage, government representatives stressed the need to undertake such legal changes in order to better cope with such situations in the future.

The legal changes took 42 votes in favor and 23 against.

However, Macedonian opposition parties accused the government of using these changes to the budget as a way to interfere in parliament's competences.

Referring to the new changes to the law on budget, the government may decide, in case of a crisis, to increase the approved funds of the regular budget reserve by reallocating the financial means among the ministries and other administrative bodies, but not above 5 percent of the ministries' budgets or those of administrative bodies.

During Monday's session, the lawmakers also discussed the draft law on changes to the law on public debt.

Source: XINHUA