The government can service all financial obligations without issues until the end of the first quarter of this year, according to economic analyst Mirza Mulešković.
However, as he adds, a problem may arise in April when Montenegro is due to repay €500 million in old debts.
“We already have an issue here because we don’t have that money, meaning we would need to take on new debt to cover or refinance the old one. By the end of March, we can expect the situation to be somewhat normal, with all obligations being serviced. But after March, in April, we will face a problem if the budget is not approved,” Mulešković stated during an appearance on TV E.
While any deviation from regular financing and the adoption of the budget would be considered an emergency situation, Mulešković notes that it cannot be said that Montenegro is already in that situation.
“In 2021, Prime Minister Spajić was the finance minister, and we had temporary financing for six months, which is very similar to this year. The only difference between the two situations in 2021 and 2025 is that in 2021, we had about €600 million in deposits, whereas now we only have €300 million in deposits, leaving us with much less money to meet the obligations in 2025. Of course, in 2021, we hadn’t yet implemented the reforms related to salary increases, abolishing health insurance contributions, and later reducing pension contributions. This has significantly increased pressure on the budget,” he emphasized.
A few days ago, the director of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIO) stated that pensions will be regularly serviced, including both the January and upcoming February increases.
“However, proportional pensions will not be increased, as the law is still pending in Parliament. We must be open about this, and acknowledge that pensioners receiving proportional pensions have been discriminated against for a year since the minimum pension increase. These pensioners have remained below the minimum pension level,” Mulešković added.
