Minister of Finance and Economy Mladjan Dinkic said that loans worth approximately €1 billion will be approved this and next year with the aim of boosting the solvency of the economy and that 104 para-fiscal levies will be abolished as of 1 October in order to unburden the economy.
After a meeting with representatives of Serbia’s leading export companies, Dinkic said that by the end of the year the government will earmark around €300 million for subsidised loans for exporters, while the rest will be secured in the coming year.
The state will subsidise interests on loans which commercial banks give to exporters, which practically means that the a loan for solvency with foreign currency clause will have an interest rate of 3.5%, while the loans indexed in Serbian dinar will have an interest rate equal to the reference rate of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS), the Minister explained.
The loans for solvency will be approved with the repayment deadline of 18 months and a 6-month grace period. The condition to get the loan will be that the company must keep all its employees and must not lay off anyone.
Dinkic explained that these measures will be proposed to the Serbian government at the following session on 30 August, while the first loans will be approved in September.
Speaking about the abolishment of para-fiscal levies, he said that his ministry has already prepared a set of laws by which 104 para-fiscal levies will be abolished, from the state to local level.
The aim of this is to relieve companies of unnecessary levies, Dinkic underlined and specified that the payment of fees to state agencies for various services will be abolished.
At yesterday’s government session, the obligation of keeping fiscal cash registers will be abolished for artisans and a set of measures for boosting agriculture will be adopted, for which considerable funds will be set aside in the upcoming revised budget.
The Minister confirmed that the funds for financing public debt and budget deficit have been secured and added that as of 1 October the highest salaries in the public administration will be cut.
In addition, excises will be changed and this kind of tax will be collected for some commodities that have not been in the excise system so far.
It is possible that excises on petrol will be re-introduced for taxi drivers, city transporters and truck drivers, Dinkic said and underlined that the new excise system will be made in such a way as not to affect the majority of citizens.
Source Serbia Gov.
