Minister of Finance and Economy Mladjan Dinkic said in an interview with the daily Blic that the budget deficit will be reduced by half next year, and that in 2015 it will stand at only 1%.
Dinkic said that the Ministry of Finance has already sent a strict budget framework for 2013 to all ministries in order to achieve that goal.
He said that the Ministry is completing the work on a medium-term plan of structural reforms which envisages measures that will lead to the reduction of deficit to just 1% in 2015 and a significant reduction of public debt.
The Minister pointed out that with the measures taken so far, subsidies and budget loans will also be reduced by RSD 6 billion and announced that a law will be passed according to which the process of restructuring of state enterprises will have to be completed no later than 30 June 2014.
According to him, until then all state companies that now receive subsidies from the budget will have to find strategic partners or become self-sustaining in the market.
Dinkic said that after the adoption of the 2014 budget, when the GDP is expected to start growing, surplus labour in public administration will be sent to the market.
He pointed out that in the last month the interest in investing in Serbia has increased sharply and announced the signing of several major contracts by the end of the year.
The Minister specified that an Italian consortium will make an investment worth €1.8 billion in the largest solar park in Europe, and that the signing of agreements with several well-known companies from the EU, Russia and the United States is also expected.
Our goal is to make Serbia the most competitive country in the region for attracting investments, Dinkic said and recalled that the government has already abolished 138 para-fiscal levies.
He expressed his belief that the International Monetary Fund will rate favourably the 2013 budget bill and that Serbia is already prepared for talks on a new arrangement with this financial institution.
Dinkic specified that our Eurobonds were sold easily a few days ago for $1 billion and the demand was for as much as $4.3 billion.
The Minister added that an agreement was reached on a $1 billion Russian loan, and that the plan is to negotiate by the end of the year favourable long-term loans with China for the construction of motorways in the amount of $850 million.
Source Serbia Gov.
