Podgorica, (MINA-BUSINESS) – Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said that the model of borrowing that the government supports was not for paying salaries, pensions, and social benefits, but solely for repaying old loans and capital investments.

“As Prime Minister, I am always prepared to stand behind such an economic model, but I am not ready to stand behind the one that prevailed from 2006 to 2020, during which we constantly had a current budget deficit, when we borrowed for salaries, pensions, and social benefits, and saw a sharp increase in our debt-to-GDP ratio,” Spajic said, responding to a question from Member of Parliament Mirsad Nurkovic of the Bosniak Party’s parliamentary group.

Nurkovic noted that the Government was hastily preparing for the implementation of several large infrastructure projects, which could be financed without new borrowing.

He asked what impact this new borrowing would have on the overall public debt of the country.

Spajic said that in 2020, the economy they inherited had been in a difficult situation, adding that they addressed the problem with non-productive costs, reduced interest rates, paid off unfavourable debts, and thus reduced the debt-to-GDP ratio.

He reminded that the Government would have to repay nearly three billion euros in old loans, primarily incurred before 2020.