The State Budget for the year 2024 was approved on December 7, 2023 based on law no. 97/2023, “For the Budget of the Year 2024” by the Parliament of the Republic of Albania. The Budget for Citizens is prepared every year by the Ministry of Finance. According to the Budget for Citizens (BfC), during 2024 have been planned 674.7 billion ALL, with an increase of 4.1% compared to the year 2023. About 9.3% of the general public expenses will be dedicated to gender-based public policies, which aim to reduce gaps. This part of the budget aims to support girls and women and to reduce gender gaps in all areas of life, so that no one may be left behind.
In the Albanian state budget for 2024, about 9.3% of the general public expenses will be dedicated to gender-based public policies, which aim to reduce gender gaps in different fields.
The total expenditures for 2024 that are planned to be realized are 343.638 million denars which represents an increase in the amount of 18.827 million denars or 5,80% more compared to the rebalanced Budget on 2023. Global inflation is expected to reduce from 8.7% in 2022 to 6.9% in 2023 and 5.8% in 2024.
The current expenditures for 2024 are planned in the amount of 298.5 billion denars or 7% more compared to 2023, intended for regular payment of salaries to employees in the public sector, timely and regular payment of pensions, guaranteed minimum income and other social rights, payment of subsidies in agriculture, support of small and medium enterprises, support and subsidization of innovative activities, as well as allocation of funds for targeted support of vulnerable categories of citizens and the economy.
The beginning of 2023 marked an inflation rate of 27% (the highest inflation rate in Europe after Turkey) a significant level in the global economic context. In contrast, at the beginning of 2024, inflation fell to 4%, indicating a potential stabilization of the economy.
The document was drafted under particularly difficult conditions, including a war in the neighboring country, energy and economic crises, as well as refugee issues, adverse weather conditions and inflation that has significantly affected the budget. However, the state budget for 2024, which was adopted by Parliament, is characterized by an increase in revenue, but accompanied by an even greater increase in expenditure. The budget foresees revenues of 66.6 billion MDL and expenditure of 82.2 billion MDL, resulting in a deficit of 15.5 billion MDL. The government has indicated that it will prioritize social protection, education and health, although funding for these sectors will decrease slightly from 2023.
The analysis of budget of Montenegro for 2022, 2023 and 2024 shows that the percentage of gendered budgeted items is growing slowly:
The total amount of funds where Gender sensitivity is indicated for the budget plan for 2024 in amount of €333,627,300.10 constitutes 23.89% of the total current budget, i.e. 9.59% of the total proposed state budget.
In 2023, only 24 consumer units indicated Gender sensitivity and amounts allocated for the activities of the Current Budget during the realization and fulfillment of the set goals. Through the prism of funds, this means: the total amount of funds in the amount of €128,046,853.83 constitutes 10.14% of the total current budget, that is, 4.49% of the total proposed state budget is gender sensitive.
Gender Responsive Budgeting is mandatory in Serbia, according to the Organic Budget Law from 2015, with gradual implementation from 2016 with extended deadline to 2024. Being a part of the public finance reform, there is a progress, but also obstacles, in its full implementation.
In 2017, 28 budget users at the central level were selected to introduce GRB. In 2023, 51 user have this obligation and 48 fulfilled the obligation. In 2024 it is the same number at the central level. The data are obtained from the Audit of Gender Responsiveness of Budgeting published in 2024 by the State Audit Institution and are not timely and officially available by the Ministry of Finance or Coordination Body for Gender Equality the level of the budget programs, in relevance sectors, are not visible allocations for the implementation of the National Strategy on Gender Equality, as it is noted also in the GRB audit report published in 2024 by the The State Audit Institution. The conclusion is that an effective framework for integrating a gender perspective into the budgetary process is not fully established and that implementation of the Action Plan for 2022 and 2023 for implementing the Gender Equality Strategy from 2021 to 2030 is not ensured.
The 2024 budget does not contain any analysis of the potentially different needs of women and men, including of individuals of different ages, ethnicities, abilities, and geographic locations. Nor is it accompanied by a Gender Budget Statement to explain how expenditures will contribute to gender equality. Consequently, it is challenging to comprehend the various needs and how the budget intends to address them or contribute to advancing gender equality. A crucial budget line related to gender equality is for the Agency for Gender Equality (AGE), totalling €368,912 in 2024 compared to €354,173 in 2023, reflecting a 4% increase in the wages and salaries expenditure category. However, the number of workers has not increased. Each municipality has a budget line under wages and salaries for an Officer for Gender Equality, which has responsibilities for furthering gender equality at the municipal level, gender mainstreaming local policies, raising awareness about gender equality, and implementing other legal obligations outlined in the Program for Gender Equality and the action plans for gender equality at national and municipal levels.
After the Government approved the draft budget for 2023 in October, the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo approved it as of its second reading in December. Although public consultations are mandatory for all legislation, the draft law on Budget was never made available for public consultation. Kosovo Women’s Network sent an official request to review and comment on the draft law, but received no response from the Ministry of Finance, Labour, and Transfers, nor from the Office of the Prime Minister.
Prepared by Ernera Dushica and Nicol Farnsworth for the Kosovo Women’s Network as part of the Gender Budget Watchdog Network.
Analysis of the State Budget for the year 2023. The State budget for the year 2023, is approved on November 24th, 2022, based on Law No. 84/2022 by the Assembly of the Republic of Albania. Every year a Budget for citizens is prepared by the Ministry of Finance and Economy. According to the Budget for Citizens (BfC) during the year 2023 are planned 687.2 billion ALL (31.6% of the GDP) as expenditures against the total revenue foreseen to reach 631.711 billion ALL (or 29% of GDP). In the budget 2023 about 9 % (or 61.8 billion ALL) of the general expenses will fund highly gender-sensitive policies. This part of the budget aims to support girls and women and to narrow the gender gaps in all areas of life so that no one is left behind.The gender-responsive expenses for the year 2023, occupy about 3% of GDP from the 2.3% they occupied in 2013.
Prepared by Gender Alliance for Development Centre (GADC) as part of the Gender Budget Watchdog Network.
The Budget Law for 2023 was adopted in the second reading on 22 December 2022 by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. The document was drafted in the context of unprecedented circumstances in 2022: war in the neighbouring country, the energy crisis, the economic crisis, the refugee crisis, unfavourable weather conditions, but also in the context of inflationary processes with a pronounced impact on the budget. The state budget law for 2023 is based on economic GDP growth of 2% and average annual inflation of 16%.
Analysis of the documents and the Information Note accompanying the State Budget Law 2023 reveals that gender perspectives are missing, being present only in one sub-programme, and gender disaggregated data by key sub-programmes still poses a big challenge for gender-responsive budgeting in Moldova.
The total expenditures for 2023 that are planned to be realized are 324,810 million denars, which represents an increase in the amount of 36,137 million denars or 12.6% more compared to the rebalanced Budget on 2022. However, taking into account the inflation rate and the increase of the living costs and energy prices, it is certain that the increase in the budget will not lead to an improvement and coverage of policies and beneficiaries.
Since its establishment in 2004, the Center for Research and Policy Making has been working on budgeting, good governance in public finances and gender-responsive budgeting. As members of the International Budget Partnership as well as an organization that prepares Open Budget Index and leads the Gender Budget Watchdog Network, we reviewed the proposal for the Budget 2023 and analyzed it in terms of its impact on promoting gender equality.
The budget of the Republic of Serbia for 2023 plans total revenues in the amount of 1,843.4 billion dinars (15.7 billion euros) and 2,107.4 billion dinars (18 billion euros) in expenditures, which represents an increase of 7.8% in compared to the amount provided by the budget rebalancing for 2022. The budget for 2023 is higher for 326.5 billion dinars (2.8 billion euros).
Prepared by Gender Knowledge Hub as part of the Gender Budget Watchdog Network.
On December 27, 2022, the Parliament of Montenegro adopted the Law on the Budget for 2023, which is worth 2.8
billion euros. During the voting, there was no representative of the Government of Montenegro in the Assembly, which had not happened before.
but it is another indicator of the political crisis in Montenegro.
The Ministry of finance presented the draft Law on Budgets. CRPM contributed to the public debate. “The proposed Law on Budgets mentions gender responsive budgeting only in Article 3 where among the 11 budget principles, one of them regulates the principle of gender equality.
It refers to the gender responsive budgeting as taking into consideration the gender equality in the planning phase and execution of budget income and expenditures. The Gender Budget Watchdog Network assesses this as insufficient and submitted the following comments to the Law on Budgets”.
