Govt. measures "must be implemented simultaneously"

BELGRADE Finance and Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic says the entire package of government measures aimed at stabilizing the budget must be implemented simultaneously. Dinkic explained on Monday that this was "because it is the only way they can have the proper effect." Govt. measures "must be implemented simultaneously" Presenting the 2013 budget balancing bill to the national parliament, Dinkic said the set of measures is made up of two parts - one is the budget balancing bill, which does not raise taxes but requires stricter fiscal discipline, and the other is a restructuring of socially-owned companies and a reform of public companies, which requires the state to withdraw from their management. These measures will also make it possible to acquire building permits more quickly by introducing changes to the law on planning and construction, he said. Changes to the labor law have also been proposed, said Dinkic. He stressed that business associations and unions have supported the government measures. The minister said the government's projected GDP growth of two to three percent this year will be achieved, since economic growth in the first quarter totaled 2.1 percent, noting he is aware this rate is low and needs to grow faster. The GDP growth in the first quarter was achieved primarily thanks to the automobile and pharmaceutical industries and agriculture, which saw the biggest rise in exports, said Dinkic, adding the government will stimulate other branches as well, especially construction which has suffered the most serious decline. Talking about infrastructure development, Dinkic said more investments are needed, noting that Serbia has had a EUR 4.5 billion credit line for infrastructure since 2006, which still has EUR 3.3 billion remaining. The budget balancing bill plans for revenue totaling RSD 873.4 billion, RSD 92.3 billion less than originally expected, and allows spending in the amount of RSD 1,051.7 billion. The budget deficit has been increased to RSD 178.3 billion, which is RSD 56.4 billion more than the initial plan, and has been limited at 4.7 percent of the GDP, said Dinkic. In the first six months of the year, the deficit totaled RSD 98.7 billion, with tax revenue dropping 10.6 percent and non-tax revenue 19.5 percent, so the state collected 88 percent of the planned tax revenue, said the minister, explaining that the state did not exceed its spending allowance, but revenue decreased. Savings of RSD 36 billion were achieved by cutting subsides by RSD 7.8 billion, to RSD 83.9 billion, and cutting capital spending by 13.1 billion to RSD 33.7 billion, and the biggest savings were achieved by ministries which curbed current expenses, said Dinkic. Talking about proposed changes to the budget system law, Dinkic said a central registry of state administration employees will be created. The registry will not include employees of the Interior Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, the Security Information Agency and the Military Intelligence Agency, for security reasons. (Tanjug) Tanjug

Govt. measures "must be implemented simultaneously"

Presenting the 2013 budget balancing bill to the national parliament, Dinkić said the set of measures is made up of two parts - one is the budget balancing bill, which does not raise taxes but requires stricter fiscal discipline, and the other is a restructuring of socially-owned companies and a reform of public companies, which requires the state to withdraw from their management.

These measures will also make it possible to acquire building permits more quickly by introducing changes to the law on planning and construction, he said.

Changes to the labor law have also been proposed, said Dinkić.

He stressed that business associations and unions have supported the government measures.

The minister said the government's projected GDP growth of two to three percent this year will be achieved, since economic growth in the first quarter totaled 2.1 percent, noting he is aware this rate is low and needs to grow faster.

The GDP growth in the first quarter was achieved primarily thanks to the automobile and pharmaceutical industries and agriculture, which saw the biggest rise in exports, said Dinkić, adding the government will stimulate other branches as well, especially construction which has suffered the most serious decline.

Talking about infrastructure development, Dinkić said more investments are needed, noting that Serbia has had a EUR 4.5 billion credit line for infrastructure since 2006, which still has EUR 3.3 billion remaining.

The budget balancing bill plans for revenue totaling RSD 873.4 billion, RSD 92.3 billion less than originally expected, and allows spending in the amount of RSD 1,051.7 billion.

The budget deficit has been increased to RSD 178.3 billion, which is RSD 56.4 billion more than the initial plan, and has been limited at 4.7 percent of the GDP, said Dinkić.

In the first six months of the year, the deficit totaled RSD 98.7 billion, with tax revenue dropping 10.6 percent and non-tax revenue 19.5 percent, so the state collected 88 percent of the planned tax revenue, said the minister, explaining that the state did not exceed its spending allowance, but revenue decreased.

Savings of RSD 36 billion were achieved by cutting subsides by RSD 7.8 billion, to RSD 83.9 billion, and cutting capital spending by 13.1 billion to RSD 33.7 billion, and the biggest savings were achieved by ministries which curbed current expenses, said Dinkić.

Talking about proposed changes to the budget system law, Dinkić said a central registry of state administration employees will be created.

The registry will not include employees of the Interior Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, the Security Information Agency and the Military Intelligence Agency, for security reasons.