The Government of Serbia, in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), plans to reduce the budget deficit in 2022, which was mainly a consequence of the costs for mitigating the effects of the corona virus pandemic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said today.
“The fight against the corona virus is very expensive, not only as support for health workers, but also through the construction of new hospitals and the purchase of medical equipment and tests. Today, we are doing over 26,000 tests, the state should pay for that every day, and there is also the purchase of vaccines and medicines, direct support to the economy and citizens, which has now exceeded nine billion euros. That is how the deficit increased,” Brnabic told reporters in Kragujevac
She said that in cooperation with the IMF, it is planned to reduce the budget deficit to “three or four percent, closer to three percent” next year.
“That is why we are now, among other things, working on a rebalance of the budget for 2021, in order to pay everything we can by the end of the year, due to better results and stronger GDP growth. So, next year, we will slowly reduce the deficit further and keep the public debt below 60 percent of GDP,” said the Prime Minister.
She added that there are some good projects whose implementation can start before the end of the year, primarily in the field of infrastructure and road infrastructure.
“What is certain for our citizens is the most important guaranteed increase in salaries and pensions from January 1, 2022, due to such good results in the budget and smart investments,” said Brnabic and pointed out that this year’s GDP growth will be instead of the planned six percent, higher than seven percent, and that the budget deficit will be lower than planned, Danas reports.
