The delegation of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, headed by Liljana Kuzmanovska, wanted to learn more about the operation of the Parliamentary Budget Office since Serbia is the first state in the Western Balkans to offer this type of service to its MPs. The visiting MPs also wanted to know whether the Office is closely connected with the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending and what its benefits are.

Dr Aleksandra Tomic, Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending, explained the Committee’s legislative, electoral and oversight role and listed examples of its cooperation with the Budget Office. Tomic said that the Office provides the MPs with financial analyses of all relevant documents, stressing that the Committee members have a direct line of communication with it which is very useful when deadlines are short. It is a way to avoid lengthy bureaucratic analysis and submitting requests to other authorities which take a longer time to forward the required information. The Committee Chairperson said that the Office provides preparatory material needed for finance and economy-related parliamentary work and answers the MPs’ individual questions about finance and economy.

Committee members Veroljub Arsic, Goran Kovecevic, Zoran Bojanic, Sonja Vlahovic and Olivera Nesic added that the Parliamentary Budget Office offers detailed information on the state budget as well as on the financial implications of bills about to be passed or laws which already have been passed. The Office is open to all the MPs regardless of party affiliation and offers information on Serbia’s public finances and economic issues.