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Government adopts 2018 budget bill
Belgrade,
29 November 2017
The Serbian government adopted today the Bill on the Budget for 2018, with planned revenues in the amount of RSD 1,178 billion and expenditures RSD 1,207 billion.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Finance, the planned fiscal deficit at the level of the Republic for the next year is 0.6 percent of GDP, or RSD 28.4 billion, which is RSD 40.7 billion less than the deficit planned for the 2017 budget.
Budget revenues from tax collection are expected to be RSD 988.6 billion, of which VAT collection should bring RSD 503.4 billion.
The next year's budget is planned on the basis of a forecast that in 2018 real GDP growth will be 3.5 percent, with a GDP deflator of 2.8 percent and a consumer price index of 2.7 percent.
This projection of GDP growth, among other things, is based on the element of raising aggregate demand through the increase in salaries and pensions and on the developmental orientation of the budget, which is based on a large increase in investments.
In relation to the realisation in the current year, investments will next year for the first time be thirty percent higher and will amount to more than RSD 180 billion at the level of the general government, or RSD 128 billion at the level of the Republic.
The main objectives of the next year's budget are focused on maintaining the achieved macroeconomic stability and continuing the application of fiscal consolidation measures, as well as further reducing the share of public debt to GDP, as started in 2016.
The priority remains the improvement of the tax system that stimulates economic activity and employment, and at the same time provides greater efficiency of tax collection and reduction of the gray economy.
The focus will also be on strengthening the stability and resilience of the financial sector, removing obstacles to economic growth and raising competitiveness by implementing comprehensive structural reforms, continuing reforms of public enterprises, and raising overall public sector efficiency.
Today the government also adopted the Fiscal Strategy for 2018 with projections for 2019 and 2020.
This strategy is a framework for the drafting of the 2018 Budget Law, according to the statement by the Ministry of Finance.
Budget revenues from tax collection are expected to be RSD 988.6 billion, of which VAT collection should bring RSD 503.4 billion.
The next year's budget is planned on the basis of a forecast that in 2018 real GDP growth will be 3.5 percent, with a GDP deflator of 2.8 percent and a consumer price index of 2.7 percent.
This projection of GDP growth, among other things, is based on the element of raising aggregate demand through the increase in salaries and pensions and on the developmental orientation of the budget, which is based on a large increase in investments.
In relation to the realisation in the current year, investments will next year for the first time be thirty percent higher and will amount to more than RSD 180 billion at the level of the general government, or RSD 128 billion at the level of the Republic.
The main objectives of the next year's budget are focused on maintaining the achieved macroeconomic stability and continuing the application of fiscal consolidation measures, as well as further reducing the share of public debt to GDP, as started in 2016.
The priority remains the improvement of the tax system that stimulates economic activity and employment, and at the same time provides greater efficiency of tax collection and reduction of the gray economy.
The focus will also be on strengthening the stability and resilience of the financial sector, removing obstacles to economic growth and raising competitiveness by implementing comprehensive structural reforms, continuing reforms of public enterprises, and raising overall public sector efficiency.
Today the government also adopted the Fiscal Strategy for 2018 with projections for 2019 and 2020.
This strategy is a framework for the drafting of the 2018 Budget Law, according to the statement by the Ministry of Finance.
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