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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

New government to continue with reforms

Belgrade, 28 June 2017

Prime Minister Designate and Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Ana Brnabic said today that it is important to harmonise priorities and make a social agreement on what we can and have to achieve together in order to bring Serbia among the ranks of successful states.

At the beginning of her keynote address, Brnabic emphasised that she is honoured to serve Serbia in order to change it for the better, saying that the new government will continue its work on the excellent foundations left by the previous government led by Aleksandar Vucic.

We can build our vision on the basis of the foundation set by the previous government, Brnabic said, adding that the state treasury is in good condition, the macroeconomic indicators are positive, the budget is in surplus, inflation is within the projected limits, and there is also a downward trend in the public debt.

She underlined that we must respond to all challenges with courage, resolution and with a clear vision of where we are going.

At the same time, Brnabic told MPs that one of the priorities of the new government will be digitalization that opens new opportunities for a better life of citizens, cheaper services and more accessible knowledge.

According to her, bureaucracy is one of the leading problems of society and therefore this government will work to change the existing paradigm and ways of thinking in every segment of society.

With the digital revolution we have a chance to catch up with other countries, because only victorious societies change, Brnabic said and expressed the belief that Serbia is ready to lead the whole region in changes.

She pointed out that, in addition to digitization, education and accelerating economic growth are at the main goals that the new government will work on, noting that in 2016 only, due to the high cost of borrowing in the past, we paid more than €1 billion in interest.

Also, order has been introduced in public finances, which the citizens recognized and bore the greatest burden of austerity, she recalled, and pointed out that these efforts by citizens and the Government of Serbia were recognized by the IMF and the World Bank.

We have successfully passed through six reviews within the IMF Standby Arrangement, and currently we are undergoing the seventh one. I wish to point out that, at the end of this year, we will successfully complete the three-year Arrangement with the IMF, Brnabic stated.

According to her, this Government plans to continue with the rigorous control of money spending.

Our goal is to have the deficit of the general government below 1% until 2019 which will introduce us among the fiscally most responsible countries. With a further growth of GDP and a low deficit, we plan to bring down the level of public debt below 60% of GDP, which will create space for new jobs, she noted.

This government will continue with economic reforms, with the expectation that the growth of real GDP will be 3.5% per year based on the growth of investments, increased exports of goods and services, particularly of goods and services with a high added value, as well as reduced share of public expenditures and the deficit in the current transactions in the GDP.

In order to achieve this, it is necessary to improve business environment, political stability and to continue with the process of accession to the EU, she underlined and added that this also entails the continuation of reform of public administration and a more efficient work of the state, which should be a service for citizens.

Brnabic pointed out that public finances are the lifeline of the economic system of any country and with right work we will have an increase of salaries in the public sector, but we will also work to reduce burden on employers.