Today, the Minister of Finance, Sinisa Mali, talked with the President of the National Council of the Swiss Confederation, Isabel Mori, about the joint projects of the two countries.
Mali and Mori also discussed the economic situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Mali said that Serbia was ready for the coronavirus pandemic with a public debt below 52 percent of GDP, a budget surplus that it had for four years in a row, and accelerated economic growth.
Thanks to that, as he pointed out, the Government of Serbia was able to react quickly with comprehensive and timely economic measures to support the economy.
The Minister added that the state paid salaries for over one million employees in five months, that taxes and contributions on salaries were postponed, that cheap loans were available to businessmen, and that 6.1 million adult citizens received a one-time financial aid of 100 euros.
The result of the measures is the best result in terms of the level of economic growth in Europe, concluded Sinisa Mali.
He also said that the challenge is the next 2021, considering that everything depends on the situation with the coronavirus.
Mori praised the low share of Serbia’s public debt in GDP and added that it was important that the state was able to react quickly with economic measures to support the economy. As she pointed out, the results of Serbia are impressive in that sense.
She also mentioned that Switzerland also helps its companies that have difficulties in doing business by covering most of their salaries.
Minister Sinisa Mali thanked Switzerland for the support that that country provides to Serbia and pointed out that our country is absolutely committed to cooperation on joint projects.
For the most part, these projects relate to the necessary reforms, which is one of the most important goals for the Government. Among other things, it is a project related to corporate financial reporting, then capacity building of the Fiscal Risk Management Department in the Ministry of Finance, a project of financial reform at the local level, strengthening the capacity of the Tax Administration…
As Sinisa Mali said, Serbia is especially imitating Switzerland when it comes to the dual education system, and added that more and more companies are participating in it.
The interlocutors agreed that the cooperation between the two countries is excellent in the economic sense and that they will continue working on important joint projects, B92 reports.
