Budget had surplus at around RSD 1bn in July - minister

Budget had surplus at around RSD 1bn in July - minister

Speaking in the Serbian parliament, he underscored that the budget surplus between the beginning of the year and July is around RSD 25-30 billion.

"That is four to five times below the target figure backed by the IMF and three times below the level of the Maastricht criteria", Vujovic said, adding that things are improving even though more effort will be required.

The results in the processing industry are positive, while the results at the Smederevo steel mill and in the chemical complex are good, he said.

For this reason, the initial projections of economic growth were minus 0.5 percent, but were subsequently adjusted to 0 percent, and will probably be adjusted to plus 0.5 percent for this year, he said.

The essence of fiscal consolidation is to remove structural imbalances and achieve a sustainable level of budgetary expenditure, Vujovic noted.

Already since last November, the government has been achieving results that are two to three times better than those it had bound itself to achieve and which won it the support of the IMF and the international community, he said.