The budget lacks 5 billion denars (90 million EUR) earmarked for retirees and 3.7 billion denars meant for farm subsidies, warned Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, who discussed the dire condition of public finances.

The previous Government paid out a pension for the previous fiscal year. They forgot to include 5 billion denars in the new budget. There was risk that we don’t have enough money to pay the pensions, Mickoski said, adding that the Finance Ministry is still trying to locate the missing funds that were meant for subsidies, as well as additional amounts in different other departments.