"No central bank loans for budget"

Despite cabinet warnings that state coffers will run dry without a big privatization in the near future, the NBS says it will not be handing out any bridging loans. Speaking to B92, National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Radovan Jelasic said that it was necessary to apply restrictive measures in order to stabilize prices and reduce inflation. "No central bank loans for budget" “Why would we give someone money, when people always get it wrong. People don’t understand that the state budget is not a family budget. If too much is spent, that automatically means inflation—you don’t have that with a family budget." "Why would we give someone who has spent too much still more, just because we’re always playing around here—one moment it’s elections, one moment it isn’t,” lamented Jelasic. The NBS governor said there was absolutely no chance of reducing the key interest rate, though he did not rule out the possibility of an increase. Speaking about the dinar’s exchange rate, he said that all countries aspired to a stable currency, and that this was one of the factors that had an impact on the arrival of foreign investors. "A country's inflation rate is more important than screening a hundred commercials on CNN and advertising. When you say how big your inflation rate is, you say who you are and what you are, what your fiscal policy is like,“ Jelasic explained. Speaking of the Socialist Party of Serbia’s calls to bring pensions to within 70 percent of salaries, Jelasic said that such a move would lead to big budget problems. "There are only two ways to achieve that without causing inflation: to cut salaries by 20, 30 percent. That’s how pensions can be brought up to 70 percent. Or, to cut all other public spending, civil servants' salaries, by the percentage that would go to pensioners",” he said. The NBS governor, from the G17 Plus ranks, thinks that the best thing would be to form a pro-EU government, "because it would be more appealing to investors". Radovan Jelasic (FoNet)

"No central bank loans for budget"

“Why would we give someone money, when people always get it wrong. People don’t understand that the state budget is not a family budget. If too much is spent, that automatically means inflation—you don’t have that with a family budget."

"Why would we give someone who has spent too much still more, just because we’re always playing around here—one moment it’s elections, one moment it isn’t,” lamented Jelašić.

The NBS governor said there was absolutely no chance of reducing the key interest rate, though he did not rule out the possibility of an increase.

Speaking about the dinar’s exchange rate, he said that all countries aspired to a stable currency, and that this was one of the factors that had an impact on the arrival of foreign investors.

"A country's inflation rate is more important than screening a hundred commercials on CNN and advertising. When you say how big your inflation rate is, you say who you are and what you are, what your fiscal policy is like,“ Jelašić explained.

Speaking of the Socialist Party of Serbia’s calls to bring pensions to within 70 percent of salaries, Jelašić said that such a move would lead to big budget problems.

"There are only two ways to achieve that without causing inflation: to cut salaries by 20, 30 percent. That’s how pensions can be brought up to 70 percent. Or, to cut all other public spending, civil servants' salaries, by the percentage that would go to pensioners",” he said.

The NBS governor, from the G17 Plus ranks, thinks that the best thing would be to form a pro-EU government, "because it would be more appealing to investors".