Assembly adopts new budget, 2014 revision

Assembly adopts new budget, 2014 revision

160 deputies in the national assembly voted in favor, while five voted against.

For the first time ever, the budget expenditures include state guarantees, which will take the total deficit to RSD 191.4 billion - around 4 percent of GDP.

With expenditures related to repayment of principal on earlier loans (RSD 30.7 billion) and acquisition of financial property (RSD 2.1 billion) not included, the budget deficit would amount to RSD 158.6 billion.

The consolidated budget deficit will be RSD 231.9 billion, or around six percent of GDP.

Next year's budget is based on a forecast that GDP will drop by 0.5 percent in 2015, with an inflation rate of 4 percent, plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

The budget also envisions a RSD 706.6 billion debt for funding the budget deficit, acquisition of financial property and repayment of principal to creditors.

In 2015, Serbia will provide up to RSD 81.72 billion (EUR 681 million) in guarantees for loans to public companies.

Tax revenue is expected at RSD 764.2 billion, with VAT at RSD 399.4 billion.

Excise taxes should bring in RSD 215.7 billion, of which RSD 122.4 billion should come from the taxes on petroleum products. Customs revenue is projected at RSD 29.2 billion.

The largest expenditures in the 2015 budget should be payments to mandatory social insurance organisztions, RSD 274.8 billion and salaries, RSD 241.2 billion.

The welfare expenditures will be around RSD 126.2 billion.

The projections for budget subsidies are at around RSD 80.6 billion, while capital expenditures will be RSD 49.2 billion. The budget includes more than RSD 20 billion for severance pays, mostly for employees of the companies undergoing restructuring.

The parliament adopted on Thursday the second review of the 2014 budget as well, which did not change the budget mass, but only redistributed the available funds.

Amendments and insults

More than 240 amendments were submitted to the bills.

Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic presented the proposed law to revise the budget for 2014 to day it would enable the government to pay RSD 9 billion of overdue payments based on savings, while the deficit will not exceed RSD 190 billion by the end of the year.

The opposition, however, said the proposed revision offered "no savings and no revenue increases, or deficit reduction," and that reviewing this year's budget at the end of the year represents "a picture of poor management of state affairs."

The plenary session on Wednesday was interrupted in the early afternoon when Vujovic explained the government's amendment to its draft budget for 2015 contained "a technical error" resulting in "a difference of RSD 35 million in that amendment."

The amendment was subsequently corrected, but the opposition said that it was in fact falsified and did not go through the established legal procedure. The debate saw the opposition MPs and Igor Becic, who presided over the session, once again engage in a heated exchange, including insults.

17 hours into the discussion, there were "raised tones" over one opposition amendment, when Dragan Sutanovac (DS) called Becic "trash" for turning off his microphone.

After that, the Becic reprimanded the opposition MP and the debate continued.

Shortly afterwards, Sutanovac took to his Twitter account and wrote that Becic "did not allow him to read the explanation of the amendment because it mentions acquisition of cameras in Kosovo and Metohija."

Namely, he asked Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic to provide answers related to the acquisition, while the amendment proposed that orders for the execution of tasks on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, which are financed from the budget of Serbia, are jointly issued by a relevant minister, and the director of the Office for Kosovo, and published on the websites of the appropriate ministry and the Office.

After that, Labor Minister Aleksandar Vulin spoke to say there was "nothing more to be said " about the behavior of the opposition.

"They are saying we are scum, trash...," Vulin said, prompting a reaction from Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic who returned to the hall after the verbal incident.

She told Vulin that a minister "cannot comment on the work of deputies in that manner."

More similar incidents happened during the debate on Monday, while on Thursday, the Administrative Committee announced that Sutanovac and Dejan Nikolic, both from the Democratic Party (DS), would have to pay fines of RSD 13,660 each - or 20 percent of their MP salary, while New Party (NS) leader Zoran Zivkovic, who was expelled from the session on Monday, would pay RSD 34,148, or 50 percent.

The money will go to the Assembly Solidarity Fund.