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PRISTINA, Feb. 3 (Reuters) – The Kosovo parliament on Sunday approved the 2019 budget after an opposition party decided to support the minority government two days after the deadline, forcing thus all state spending to be interrupted.
The budget was adopted with 65 votes out of 120 seats in Parliament. The coalition government, which holds 53 seats, has negotiated support for the opposition Social Democrat Party (PSD).
Parliament has also pbaded a bill increasing the salaries of the population. Teachers ended a strike Friday after reaching an agreement with the government, which means that half a million students and students will return to school Monday after three weeks d & # 39; absence.
Workers in the energy sector, airport control, customs and doctors also threatened to block their work if the new law on wages did not take their demands into account.
Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said that spending in this year's budget was a record.
"With 237 billion euros (2.71 billion dollars), it is Kosovo's largest development budget that will contribute to economic growth of 4.7%," said Haradinaj. after the vote.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that Kosovo will grow by 4.2% this year, compared to 4% last year.
The government plans to maintain a budget deficit of 2% of gross domestic product. Some 800 million euros will be spent on state infrastructure projects, mainly for the construction of new roads.
Corruption and political instability have prevented most foreign investors from leaving Kosovo since the country of 2 million inhabitants declared independence from Serbia in 2008. (1 USD = 0.8731 euros)
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