Govt. to consider draft budget on Thursday

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic says that the draft budget should be ready for adoption by the government on Thursday. The budget will be about EUR 8.4bn and the deficit will be a little over EUR 444mn or 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, Cvetkovic told a press conference after meeting with Hungarian counterpart Ferenc Gyurcsany. Govt. to consider draft budget on Thursday Cvetkovic said that the government was looking into ways to make cutbacks because of the world financial crisis, and was preparing a “package” covering a number of different sectors where savings could be made. The prime minister said that an analysis was being performed on the total number of employees and salary outlay in public and local self-administration, adding that discussions were ongoing with the business community and some banks as well. He said that a new round of talks would be held opposition parties, after which a package of measures for what direction Serbia should take in the coming year would be presented. “People won't starve, but we will have to have serious talks about where every dinar goes, both in the budget and in people's pockets,” Cvetkovic stressed. Mirko Cvetkovic (FoNet, archive)

Govt. to consider draft budget on Thursday

Cvetković said that the government was looking into ways to make cutbacks because of the world financial crisis, and was preparing a “package” covering a number of different sectors where savings could be made.

The prime minister said that an analysis was being performed on the total number of employees and salary outlay in public and local self-administration, adding that discussions were ongoing with the business community and some banks as well.

He said that a new round of talks would be held opposition parties, after which a package of measures for what direction Serbia should take in the coming year would be presented.

“People won't starve, but we will have to have serious talks about where every dinar goes, both in the budget and in people's pockets,” Cvetković stressed.