Measures designed "to prevent Serbia from going bankrupt"

BELGRADE Finance and Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said the goal of the government was to keep Serbia from bankruptcy, and that he believed the crisis would be stopped. "Our goal is to keep Serbia from going bankrupt and from coming anywhere near the situation Greece is in right now. We will achieve this by limiting public spending. We will curb all subsidies, except for agriculture, as well as spending on goods and services," said Dinkic. Measures designed "to prevent Serbia from going bankrupt" He added he had changed his opinion and informed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the final meeting that he had decided to reduce the budget deficit to 3.5 percent of the GDP next year, instead of four percent. In an interview for Politika, Dinkic said the Fiscal Council was right and that only a radical reduction of the budget deficit could bring down the public debt in the medium term. Noting that Serbia can take care of its financing needs even without the IMF, he said that "the least of our worries will be how to find the money to cover the deficit." "A bigger concern is not burdening future generations who will need to pay this money back. This is why we want to ensure a longterm deficit reduction. My associates and I are already working on measures which will help us achieve this goal," said Dinkic. Mladjan Dinkic (Beta, file) Politika Tanjug

Measures designed "to prevent Serbia from going bankrupt"

He added he had changed his opinion and informed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the final meeting that he had decided to reduce the budget deficit to 3.5 percent of the GDP next year, instead of four percent.

In an interview for Politika, Dinkić said the Fiscal Council was right and that only a radical reduction of the budget deficit could bring down the public debt in the medium term.

Noting that Serbia can take care of its financing needs even without the IMF, he said that "the least of our worries will be how to find the money to cover the deficit."

"A bigger concern is not burdening future generations who will need to pay this money back. This is why we want to ensure a longterm deficit reduction. My associates and I are already working on measures which will help us achieve this goal," said Dinkić.