Government will propose temporary postponement of suspension of gross income based on past work

Podgorica, Montenegro (27 December 2016) -- Government of Montenegro will propose the temporary postponement (over a 3-month period) of the measure referring to the suspension of the gross income based on past work in 2017 and 2018 in the public sector, which is stipulated by the Draft Law on the Budget of Montenegro for 2017.

The decision came as a result of yesterday's talks Deputy Prime Minister Milutin Simović and ministers of finance, and labour and social welfare, Darko Radunović and Kemal Purišić, had with representatives of both trade unions. On the fiscal side, this solution was enabled by the announcements that the Parliament will propose a reduction of budget allocations for political parties.

Over the next 3-month period, the Government and social partners, unions and employers will continue the dialogue with a view to finding the most acceptable model acceptable for the trade unions, at the same time, ensuring the full implementation of fiscal consolidation measures, as one of the Government's top priorities.

The temporary solution is another confirmation of the Government's commitment to overcoming challenges by finding constructive solutions and compromise in an open and argumentative dialogue with all social stakeholders. In parallel, it testifies to the hopelessness of protests as a way to solve problems, as it was precisely on the day of the protests when the dialogue between the Government’s officials and representatives of the Confederation of Trade Unions and Union of Free Trade Unions of Montenegro resulted in msking the accepible solution. 

Government of Montenegro takes the opportunity to once again call upon certain social and political stakeholders not to use the inevitable discipline in the consolidation of public finance, which many countries in the world, besides Montenegro, are facing, for achieving daily political goals.