The Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) proposed new economic measures for the period from 2012 to 2016 which include GDP growth of five percent annually, because the current development model has not produced results and the country needs a new one.
The programme envisages a growth in investments, implementation of structural reforms which would make room for a sustainable employment level, reduce insolvency and up the economy’s competitiveness. During the session of the Administrative board, PKS Deputy President Vidosava Dzagic stated that the revision of the growth rate by the end of the year, slowdown in the industrial production and exports, drop in the export-import ratio and growth of foreign exchange deficit have demonstrated that the current development model is not producing results and that a new one is needed.
Parafiscal taxes have to be reduced since they account for 4.2 percent of the country’s GDP, and inspection services should become more efficient, unnecessary administrative procedures should be cut shorter, especially when it comes to issuing building licences, and efficiency of the judiciary procedures should be increased, Dzagic said.
Public spending also needs to be cut, tax reforms have to be carried out, income taxes should be reduced and pension system reforms need to be completed so that the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund would not rely on the budget alone and could instead be funded from its own revenues, Dzagic said.
The draft 2012-2016 economic policy points to the inefficiency of the monetary policy conducted so far, which implies the implementation of a floating yet predictable exchange rate with inflation monitoring, Dzagic stated.
The unemployment rate of 23.7 percent is very high and an adequate tax policy should be adopted which would encourage employment, she said and added that Serbia’s educational system needs to be changed because it does not correspond to the economy’s needs, since the highest number of unemployed people are high-school degree holders.
Source Tanjug
