The state budget deficit in December amounted to 231,3 million euros, meaning that revenues were worth 257 million euros, instead of the planned 282 million, while expenditures were 488 million euros instead of the planned 309 million euros, according to the budget realization report for the last month of last year.
The budget deficit in November amounted to 76,7 million euros, so the total deficit for the two months of implementation of the "Europe Now 2" program amounts to 308 million euros.
Poorly estimated contribution income
Since October, pension insurance contributions have been halved through this tax reform, so that in November ten million less was collected on this basis than in the same month last year, and in December as much as 27 million euros less. The collection of this contribution is also lower than planned in November by two million, and in December by 11 million euros, which means that neither the Ministry of Finance nor the Minister News of Vuković did not properly assess the effects of this contribution reduction.
The implementation of new and increased taxes and excise duties, which should compensate for this loss, began in January, so it will only be known at the end of February, when the report for January is published, whether it has been correctly calculated that these new revenues will cover the deficit incurred by the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund.
The budget deficit for the entire 2024 year amounted to 230,9 million euros, or less than in December itself. This shows that in the first ten months (January-October) these reports showed a surplus of 75 million. As "Vijesti" previously reported, those previous surpluses that the Government and the Ministry of Finance boasted about were created artificially by not paying all planned obligations. The report for December shows that most of those obligations that were not paid in previous months (in order to create a surplus) were paid in December, which is why expenditures in that month were 180 million higher than planned for December.
Shortfall covered by using deposits
The Government covered the December budget gap of 231 million euros and the old debt repayment installment of 36 million euros during this period by withdrawing money from deposits worth 261,7 million euros, taking out a loan of 3,8 million euros, selling assets worth 500 thousand euros, and transferring funds of 2,9 million euros.
The budget plan envisaged that only 62,8 million euros would be withdrawn from deposits in December. These deposits have been in the state treasury since March last year, when the Government borrowed 680 million euros, and have been gradually spent since then. Since then, a total of 570 million euros have been spent from the deposits.
The ministry does not state in the report how much money remained in the budget at the end of the year, but according to this data, the treasury could enter the new year 2025 with deposits of around 110 to 120 million euros.
In December, the state earned a total of 168,6 million euros from taxes, which is 16,7 million more than planned. The most important part of the revenue came from VAT, 111,6 million, which is 13 million more than planned. It was not explained whether this figure refers to gross or net collection, or whether this amount is with or without VAT refunds. Previous practices have shown that the Ministry does not refund VAT to businesses in months when it has deficits, but rather postpones this obligation for months when it has more revenue.
In December, 30,6 million were collected from excise duties, which is 1,8 million less than planned. Of all contributions to the budget, 62,4 million euros were collected in December, which is 7,8 million less than expected. 5,7 million were collected from fees instead of 7,6 million, 10,5 million from other revenues instead of 26 million, and 8,5 million from donations and transfers instead of the planned 25,4 million...
Almost all current expenditures increased in December
Expenditures in December of 488 million euros were higher than planned by 180 million or 58 percent. Almost all current expenditures were significantly higher than planned, except for the payment of gross salaries, where instead of 62,8 million euros, 57,8 million were paid.
In December, 9,3 million euros were paid for materials instead of the planned five million, 24,2 million for services instead of the planned 10,9 million, 7,6 million for current maintenance instead of 4,7 million, 27,2 million for interest instead of 17,7 million, 3,9 million for rent instead of 1,3 million, 18 million for subsidies instead of the planned 9,8 million, and 39 million for other expenses instead of the planned 11,9 million.
In December, 93,3 million euros were spent on social assistance and pension payments instead of the planned 86,8 million euros. However, there were "savings" on certain items, such as 17,7 million euros paid out for social protection rights, or about 400 thousand less than planned, while 63,6 million euros were paid out for pension and disability insurance rights, or 700 thousand less than planned.
Surplus artificially created by postponing payment obligations
A total of 165 million euros were spent on state capital expenditures from the state budget for ten months (January-October) instead of the planned 183 million. However, in December alone, 91,5 million euros were paid out for these purposes instead of the planned 45 million euros.
In other words, in the last month of the year, 55 percent of the amount paid for capital investments for these purposes in the previous ten months was paid. This speaks either of poor budget planning or of the deliberate artificial creation of a surplus during most of the year, so that the Government and the Ministry could boast during that period, and then pay off these debts at the end of the year.
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