PODGORICA (Reuters) – Montenegro’s parliament passed a 2015 budget late on Saturday setting the deficit at 6.6 percent of national output, up from 2 percent in 2014.
Forty-four of 71 deputies in the 81-seat parliament of the European Union candidate country voted for the budget, which assumes 3.5 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP).
The higher deficit in 2015 arises from an 800 million euro deal to finance a stretch of highway linking the port of Bar with Serbia, a project the International Monetary Fund warned could threaten fiscal stability.
The government of the ex-Yugoslav republic sealed an agreement with China Road and Bridge Corp (CRBC), part of China Communications Construction Co, in February to build the 40-km (25-mile) section of the 120-km motorway.
The World Bank then withdrew a $50 million budget support loan to Montenegro, saying the highway deal would add to an already high debt level of 58 percent of national output.
(Reporting by Petar Komnenic, writing by Ivana Sekularac, editing by Mark Heinrich)
Montenegro parliament adopts 2015 budget, raising deficit
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