The Minister of Finance of Serbia, Sinisa Mali, said today that the state did not take on the second aid package, which includes a two-month payment of 60 percent of the minimum wage and a temporary exemption from paying taxes and contributions.
He estimated that the latest measures will cost 525 million euros.
He told TV Prva that Serbia paid 5.1 billion euros in the first package, and that when the second package was added to that, subsidizing pensioners with 30 euros each, a bonus on salaries for health workers, the total aid reached about 5.9 billion euros or 12.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Regarding the criticism of the payment of 100 euros to all adult citizens, the Minister stated that 378 million euros of tax inflows were projected in July, and that due to the growth of turnover, more – 416 million were realized.
“From that, we expected 180 million from the value added tax, and we received 20 million more, precisely because economic activity did not stop… As we expected, that money returned to economic flows,” said Mali and he added that the measure was also important for “restoring optimism to the citizens”.
Asked whether the state would additionally help the sectors most affected by the crisis, such as catering, the minister said that for now he could not say whether additional money would be allocated, but that another package of measures would serve to help hoteliers.
Mali added that the data of the Tax Administration indicate that at the end of February, 1.82 million employees received salaries, and that already in June, a larger number of employers were recorded and that 1.95 million salaries were paid.
According to him, that indicates that employment in Serbia did not fall during the corona crisis, which was potentially affected by the employment that employers undertook in order to realize the right to the first aid package.
He reminded that in 2013, Serbia was on the verge of bankruptcy, but the state budget had a surplus in the previous four years, and estimated that the state would have money for normal functioning in the next four years, Beta reports.
