A point should be put on state aid. We have no right to question the regular payment of pensions. These two packages were quite enough, according to Ljubodrag Savic, a professor at the Faculty of Economics.
Businessmen expect new measures of help if the health situation worsens. For now, as we have learned unofficially, that possibility has not been considered because the economy is functioning and it is too early to think about the third package of state aid. The Chamber of Commerce of Serbia (SCC), which represents the interests and listens to the demands of the economy, believes that there is room for the state to help certain sectors of the economy again in case of tightening measures to prevent from corona, which would jeopardize the company’s work.
Bojan Stanic, assistant director for strategic analysis at PKS, says that assistance, if needed, should be directed only to companies that need it.
– Nothing is specified because for now the situation is developing favorably for the economy and there are no major problems – says Stanic.
What will happen in the period from November to February is difficult to estimate at this moment. The World Health Organization said yesterday that there is no need for closure as it was in the first wave – Stanic adds and emphasizes that the PKS is in contact with the government.
Given the situation in the budget, they know that it is not possible to repeat the same systemic package of measures as before. According to him, that would shift the burden of the budget by more than 10%, which is unacceptable, having in mind the necessity of preserving macroeconomic stability as the basis of the business environment.
Our interlocutor states that the international financial institutions remain with the projections that a significant recovery of economic activity is forthcoming next year, and that a growth of three to four percent is predicted in Serbia. Businessmen expect help from the European Union next year, but also from the International Development Finance Corporation, which announced the provision of money to finance loans for small and medium enterprises.
Stanic says that the previous government measures of economic support have contributed to preserving the liquidity of economic entities and employment. Thanks to direct budget transfers, postponement of part of the tax, as well as the establishment of a guarantee scheme for favorable lending to businessmen, the Serbian economy has relatively well withstood the first wave of the crisis caused by the Covid pandemic 19.
Milojko Arsic, a professor at the Faculty of Economics, says that the third aid package, if any, should be significantly more selective compared to the previous two and intended only for those companies that are particularly affected by the economic crisis.
– Most companies have already reached the level of economic activity from the previous period and there is no reason to approve any kind of assistance. Some general assistance could be considered only if there was a re-emergence of the epidemic and if there was a further decline in economic activity. Otherwise, if this level of economic activity is maintained, only institutions and companies that cannot work due to the epidemic, such as cultural institutions, travel agencies or city hotels, should be helped. These activities will certainly not recover in the next year – says Arsic.
Ljubodrag Savic, a professor at the Faculty of Economics, believes that even the second package was not necessary and that we really need to put an end to state aid to the economy.
– We have no right to burden future generations and to question the regular payment of pensions. These two packages were enough. What’s the point of helping employers in a market economy? A good opportunity was given to some people, and whoever used the chance, used it, whoever did not, would not use it even if the state helped him twice more. There are some activities that really got into problems, the state recognized that and helped. It is always debatable in the market economy to take away from some and give to others – Savic thinks, Politika reports.
