Acting Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati, has announced that the budget allocated to Kosovo’s municipalities is expected to increase to 907 million euros during 2027.
Murati announced that the Ministry of Finance last week issued the second budget circular for municipalities, through which the budget limits for each municipality were determined.
According to him, the increase in the budget for the local level has been enabled by the performance of budget revenues over recent years, which, according to Murati, has created fiscal space for larger allocations for municipalities.
“Thanks to the exceptional performance of budget revenues over recent years, fiscal space has been created for continuous growth in the budget allocated to municipalities,” Murati wrote.
The acting minister also made a comparison with 2021, when according to him the total budget allocated to municipalities was 546 million euros.
“From the 546 million euros we found in 2021, the budget allocated to municipalities will go to 907 million euros in 2027,” Murati declared.
If this allocation is realized, municipalities will have around 361 million euros more available compared to the 2021 budget level.
In percentage terms, this represents an increase of about 66 percent compared to the 546 million euros in 2021.
The budget circular sets the boundaries within which municipalities must plan their budgets, while the final allocations will be reflected in the process of drafting and approving the budget for 2027.
Murati presented the announced increase as a result of revenue performance and increased fiscal space, while the budget of 907 million euros is expected to be one of the largest allocations for the municipal level.