State debt reached €1.8 billion at the end of 2025, according to audit report

Kosovo’s Auditor General, Vlora Spanca, presented the 2025 annual audit report to the Assembly of Kosovo today. The report examines the management of public funds.

According to Spanca, the report is based on two pillars. The first is the government’s annual financial audit of the 2025 budget, including the audit opinion, key findings and recommendations. The second summarizes the results of special audits conducted at public institutions.

She said that, although improvements had been recorded in several areas, shortcomings remained that required intervention and greater accountability from institutions. According to her, the quality of the government’s financial reporting has improved over the years and, in the areas assessed, the reporting complies with the relevant standards and legal framework. Nevertheless, the National Audit Office issued a qualified opinion. Spanca explained that the annual financial report presents a fair and true view in all material respects, while the issues that affected the opinion were related to the classification of expenditures, assets, accounts and reported liabilities.

Among the findings she presented was the improper classification of expenditures amounting to €77.4 million. Of this amount, €58.5 million consisted of payments made on the basis of court decisions from inappropriate budget categories, mainly for liabilities arising from collective agreements at the municipal level. The remainder consisted of inadequate budgeting amounting to €4.5 million and misclassifications of €14.4 million caused by the budget organizations themselves.

The audit also identified an overstatement of assets by €33.5 million. In the reporting of other financial items, understated accounts receivable amounting to €4.4 million, overstated unpaid liabilities of €2.8 million, and overstated liabilities and contingencies of approximately €30 million were identified. Spanca said these findings demonstrated the need to strengthen internal controls, despite the progress achieved.

Speaking about budget execution and the state of public finances during 2025, Spanca said that budget revenues exceeded €3.512 billion, approximately 9 percent more than in 2024. She said budget expenditures also increased by 9 percent. Of the final budget of €3.848 billion, 91 percent was executed.

Regarding the budget deficit, the auditor said the legal limit had been respected. The planned deficit was €224 million, or approximately 2 percent of gross domestic product, while according to the final budget execution, it amounted to approximately €7.8 million, or 0.07 percent of gross domestic product.

At the end of 2025, state debt reached €1.8 billion, Spanca said. Compared with the previous year, 2024, it increased by €80.4 million, or 4.6 percent. Debt accounted for 16.5 percent of GDP, remaining within the legal limit of 40 percent.

Spanca also mentioned delays in the implementation of projects, which she attributed both to changes in market prices and to poor planning.

Earlier during today’s session, the head of the PDK parliamentary group, Arian Tahiri, requested that the Auditor General’s report be postponed to the next session due to the absence of the prime minister and the minister of finance. His request was not put to a vote.