Parliament adopts 2009 budget revision

The Serbian parliament adopted on Wednesday in Belgrade the 2009 budget revision. Revenues were reduced to RSD 649.3bn, while spending was scaled down to RSD 719.8bn – RSD 28.9bn less than originally planned. Parliament adopts 2009 budget revision A total of 127 MPs of the ruling majority, including four from the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM), voted in favor, while 16 lawmakers voted against the revision. Earlier in the day, SVM leader Istvan Pastor said that the party would vote in fo the bill because the government had decided to transfer RSD 6.5bn to the Vojvodina budget, which brought its level to seven percent of the state's budget. Previously on Wednesday, Pastor called for a postponement of the voting. Pastor said that he would be voting for the bill after the government pledged to transfer to Vojvodina the province's full seven percent. Beside the budget review, the MPs were set to vote for six accompanying laws envisioning greater tax-raising powers. The measures at stake include cutting state spending to help mitigate the impact of the world economic crisis. It was uncertain whether the ruling coalition would have the support of the necessary 126 MPs to pass the bills, given the earlier dissension from among the ranks of the Vojvodina Hungarians. The government said earlier that Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and Vojvodina Executive Council President Bojan Pajtic were in complete agreement on the manner in which the deal reached on allocation of budget funds to the province would be executed, and that the budget review would be adopted. “We follow the movement of contributions on a daily basis, so all contributions and salary taxes are nominally rising, while other taxes are, for the most part, nominally falling. That means, taxes on salaries and contributions, plus excise, are the only taxes that are nominally increasing,” said Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic. “We don’t have any guarantees, nor can we have any guarantees that the Law on Vojvodina’s Jurisdictions will be adopted by the end of May or start of June. We’ve been hearing various promises for over six months, that business could have been concluded long ago, if the political will for that had existed." "Clearly it doesn’t. That means that we’re willing to support the draft budget review, exclusively on condition that the review unambiguously states that Vojvodina will get its seven percent,” said Vojvodina Hungarian official Balint Pastor. Parliament (FoNet, archive)

Parliament adopts 2009 budget revision

A total of 127 MPs of the ruling majority, including four from the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM), voted in favor, while 16 lawmakers voted against the revision.

Earlier in the day, SVM leader Ištvan Pastor said that the party would vote in fo the bill because the government had decided to transfer RSD 6.5bn to the Vojvodina budget, which brought its level to seven percent of the state's budget.

Previously on Wednesday, Pastor called for a postponement of the voting.

Pastor said that he would be voting for the bill after the government pledged to transfer to Vojvodina the province's full seven percent.

Beside the budget review, the MPs were set to vote for six accompanying laws envisioning greater tax-raising powers.

The measures at stake include cutting state spending to help mitigate the impact of the world economic crisis.

It was uncertain whether the ruling coalition would have the support of the necessary 126 MPs to pass the bills, given the earlier dissension from among the ranks of the Vojvodina Hungarians.

The government said earlier that Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković and Vojvodina Executive Council President Bojan Pajtić were in complete agreement on the manner in which the deal reached on allocation of budget funds to the province would be executed, and that the budget review would be adopted.

“We follow the movement of contributions on a daily basis, so all contributions and salary taxes are nominally rising, while other taxes are, for the most part, nominally falling. That means, taxes on salaries and contributions, plus excise, are the only taxes that are nominally increasing,” said Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović.

“We don’t have any guarantees, nor can we have any guarantees that the Law on Vojvodina’s Jurisdictions will be adopted by the end of May or start of June. We’ve been hearing various promises for over six months, that business could have been concluded long ago, if the political will for that had existed."

"Clearly it doesn’t. That means that we’re willing to support the draft budget review, exclusively on condition that the review unambiguously states that Vojvodina will get its seven percent,” said Vojvodina Hungarian official Balint Pastor.