PM, opposition fail to reach agreement

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic has failed to reach an agreement with opposition party officials regarding the 2009 draft budget. Cvetkovic, however, is still confident that the budget will be adopted by the end of the year. PM, opposition fail to reach agreement He told the press after the consultations that talks with MP groups would continue today regarding specific amendments with Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic. “The Serb Radical Party (SRS) aside, with whom any kind of agreement looks unlikely, all of the other parties stated that they intended to discuss a solution to the problem,” the prime minister said. He said that MPs had differing opinions on what course the debate should take, adding that some practical proposals had been made. Cvetkovic said that every MP group should have the same amount of time to outline its amendments in parliament. “The second alternative was for the debate of the amendments to take place outside parliamentary sessions in order to see if any of them could be accepted,” the minister said. He said that the budget was one of the basic elements of macro-economic policy, adding that without a budget, there was no chance of pursuing economic policies, especially fiscal acts. “Temporary financing is an imposed option, not an option supported by the government,” Cvetkovic stressed. Owing to the large number of amendments, 240 altogether, parliament will be unable to adopt the 2009 budget by the end of the year, meaning that temporary financing will have to be applied. In view of the large number of amendments, Parliamentary Speaker Slavic Djukic-Dejanovic called a meeting of opposition whips with Cvetkovic and Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic. The Serb Radical Party (SRS) submitted the most amendments, 115, while a large number was also submitted by the Democratic Party of Serbia and the Forward Serbia MP groups. The Liberal Democratic Party did not submit a single amendment in order to speed up the debate and get the budget adopted on time. However, LDP officials believe that the budget is poor and that amendments cannot remedy it. Under the draft budget, revenue next year will total EUR 8.2bn, with expenditure at the EUR 8.8bn mark. That means that the projected deficit will hit EUR 600mn, in line with the 1.5 percent GDP mark, previously agreed on with the IMF. Next year’s budget will be very restrictive, with the goal of limiting public spending and cushioning the negative impact of the world financial crisis. The legal deadline for adopting the budget is January 29. Failure to adopt the bill by then will mean temporary financing. Mirko Cvetkovic (Tanjug, archive)

PM, opposition fail to reach agreement

He told the press after the consultations that talks with MP groups would continue today regarding specific amendments with Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović.

“The Serb Radical Party (SRS) aside, with whom any kind of agreement looks unlikely, all of the other parties stated that they intended to discuss a solution to the problem,” the prime minister said.

He said that MPs had differing opinions on what course the debate should take, adding that some practical proposals had been made.

Cvetković said that every MP group should have the same amount of time to outline its amendments in parliament.

“The second alternative was for the debate of the amendments to take place outside parliamentary sessions in order to see if any of them could be accepted,” the minister said.

He said that the budget was one of the basic elements of macro-economic policy, adding that without a budget, there was no chance of pursuing economic policies, especially fiscal acts.

“Temporary financing is an imposed option, not an option supported by the government,” Cvetković stressed.

Owing to the large number of amendments, 240 altogether, parliament will be unable to adopt the 2009 budget by the end of the year, meaning that temporary financing will have to be applied.

In view of the large number of amendments, Parliamentary Speaker Slavic Đukić-Dejanović called a meeting of opposition whips with Cvetković and Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović.

The Serb Radical Party (SRS) submitted the most amendments, 115, while a large number was also submitted by the Democratic Party of Serbia and the Forward Serbia MP groups.

The Liberal Democratic Party did not submit a single amendment in order to speed up the debate and get the budget adopted on time. However, LDP officials believe that the budget is poor and that amendments cannot remedy it.

Under the draft budget, revenue next year will total EUR 8.2bn, with expenditure at the EUR 8.8bn mark.

That means that the projected deficit will hit EUR 600mn, in line with the 1.5 percent GDP mark, previously agreed on with the IMF.

Next year’s budget will be very restrictive, with the goal of limiting public spending and cushioning the negative impact of the world financial crisis.

The legal deadline for adopting the budget is January 29. Failure to adopt the bill by then will mean temporary financing.