9th April 2021, Skopje – “Ministry of Finance undertakes activities geared towards Growth Acceleration Financing Plan, aimed at combining all initiatives, plans and funds allocated by both the Government and the international financial partners for implementation of capital projects in this period. The goal of this document is to design innovative ways for implementing public investments, using the available funds of the official creditors for the purpose of mobilizing private investments. This will contribute to multifold increase of investments, as well as implementation of fiscal consolidation”, Minister of Finance, Fatmir Besimi, pointed out during the meeting with Anna Bjerde, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, and Linda Van Gelder, World Bank Country Director for Western Balkans, held within the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings.
“This Plan will play vital role as regards the economic growth and the job creation, not only through public finances, but also by mobilizing the capital from the private sector. The expectations are for the Plan to provide for acceleration of the economic growth to 5% average annual growth by 2025, gradual fiscal consolidation of the public debt and the budget deficit, increased investments in both the public sector and the private sector respectively”, Besimi underlined.
Private investment encouraging, as Besimi said, will be underpinned by establishing development funds, innovation support funds, Guarantee Fund, equity funds, Venture Capital Fund and similar instruments aimed at supporting the export-oriented companies, the small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the social enterprises. Public-private partnerships, concessions and other instruments for financing public capital projects are also planned to be put into places, to be coupled with financing private sector projects. These are the projects indicated within the National Investment Committee (NIC), also including new projects arising upon initiatives of the public or the private sector.
The new mechanisms, instruments, funds and sources of financing are to produce a multiplying effect, i.e. in addition to the planned public investments amounting to EUR 4 billion for the period 2021-2025, much more funds and investments from the private sector will be mobilized. Accordingly, total investments in the economy will experience multifold increase, thus contributing to additional acceleration of GDP growth, as well as boosted job creation.
During the meeting, the four-year Country Partnership Framework was also discussed with the World Bank Vice President.
The Minister informed the Vice President about the Parliament adopting the laws related to the North Macedonia Public Sector Energy Efficiency Project and the Primary Education Improvement Project, which are part of the four-year Framework, hence the respective loan agreements can be signed and their implementation can be launched. As pointed out, loan agreement signing is expected to follow soon.
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