The Minister of Finance, Sinisa Mali, stated that the goal is for the Government of Serbia to work on increasing the rate of economic growth, and that this year, despite some forecasts of a decline, we will still end at a positive zero.
He said in the show Focus on B92 that at this moment, Serbia will not need a budget rebalance, possibly in the fall.
“We have shown that we can cover all aspects of the crisis and no rebalance will be needed by the end of the year. A rebalance would not mean anything bad, it can only happen in a situation where we have some money that we have earned, but if so we will certainly have a surplus income to know how to make good use of,” Mali explained.
He reminded that the growth rate of the Serbian economy in the first quarter of the year was five percent, and that the Eurozone countries recorded a decline of 3.3 percent.
He stated that the growth rate in January this year was 6.5 percent, and, as he says, if the crisis had not happened, we would have ended the first quarter with growth above six percent.
He also stated that Germany will have a decline of about five or six percent, Italy, Croatia of about nine percent, the United States of about 4.5 percent, and that the Serbian economy will fall the least.
“We will most likely be at a positive zero,” the minister said.
He assessed that a small number of countries managed to support their economy in the way that Serbia did.
“We have shown that we conduct economic policy responsibly. The result of difficult measures is a surplus, reduction of unemployment, public finances are completely stable, public debt is completely under control and that is why we are an attractive investment destination, despite the biggest crisis in the world,” said Mali.
Commenting on the statement of the leader of the Party of Freedom and Justice, Dragan Djilas, that Serbia should have taken a loan from the IMF at an interest rate of zero percent, Mali said that the money was only for the poorest countries in the world.
He said that Djilas mentioned the IMF, and in 2011, the Government of Serbia terminated the agreement with the IMF because the IMF asked for greater transparency and not to borrow as much.
“Then the agreement lasted for two or three months, and today the agreement with the IMF lasts for years. The government has been working with the IMF for years, there are no secrets between us,” Mali said.
Speaking about the payment of aid of 100 euros to the citizens, the Minister of Finance said that it is an economic measure that shows how strong the state is, and that it has taken on the greatest burden of the crisis.
According to him, the economy and citizens can rely on the state.
He reminded that citizens can apply for 100 euros until June 5, and that they will apply until 6-7 June and money will be paid to all who applied.
He also announced that in the next 10 days, measures will be announced to encourage the employment of people who came to Serbia, as well as those who lost their jobs in the country.
Asked whether the Serbia 2025 program will be corrected, he said that it would not and that the deadline was only moved by a few months.
“We stand behind that program and it is a key program for the future,” said Mali, adding that the money will be invested in infrastructure, cheap apartments for young people, for environmental protection, all with the goal of an average salary by 2025 to be about 900 euros, and a pension of more than 400 euros, Dnevnik reports.
