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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Government makes progress in all fields

Belgrade, 6 July 2009

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said that in the past year the Prime Minister’s Cabinet made great progress in all aspects but some development plans have had to be postponed owing to the global financial crisis.

Author: Tanjug

In an interview with the Tanjug news agency, on the anniversary of the government’s first year in office, the Prime Minister said he thinks that the government is heading in the right direction. Some people may think that we should be moving faster in reaching our goals but in my opinion our efficiency is in line with the current world situation.

As for a decrease in living standards, he noted that there will be no further fall in living standards in Serbia in the upcoming period.

We should now wait for the appropriate moment to start the recovery from the consequences of the crisis, he said and voiced his belief that it would soon happen.

According to him Serbia has made great progress concerning the government’s top two priorities, those of EU integration and the preservation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

As for the EU, we are on the right path towards the Schengen ’white list’. The government has adopted around 250 laws, one-third of which are necessary for continuing our EU integration. We are optimistic when it comes to the unblocking of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, said the Prime Minister.

Talking about Kosovo-Metohija, Cvetkovic pointed to the importance of transferring the Kosovo issue from the political to the legal field and asking the International Court of Justice’s for its opinion on the legality of the unilaterally declared Kosovo independence.

Author: Tanjug

The government has made a great success of its fight against all types of crime.

Despite the crisis we have managed to stabilise the financial sector and therefore made citizens regain their trust in banks. We are also working on solving the social crisis because we take care of the poor, said the Prime Minister.

In its first year in office the government tried to maintain its policies but due to the global financial downturn it has had to redefine some of it aims.

Instead of fast development and living standard increases, the government has had to focus on the preservation of existing standards.

Cvetkovic noted that GDP is expected to fall by 3% by the end of this year. He also announced that the possibility of revising the state budget will be discuss with the IMF in late August, specifying that Serbia will demand that budget deficit be increased from the planned 4.5% to 5% of GDP.

Although a steep fall in economic activity has been halted we have not yet surmounted the crisis, he said, adding that we should be aware that the recovery period will last several years.

Author: Tanjug

Since Serbia is currently in recession, we should do all we can to increase consumption and therefore encourage production, which will result in a GDP increase.

The Prime Minister stressed that the government is still planning to reduce its expenditure, which will primarily lead to the reduction in the number of people employed in public administration.

He noted that Serbia’s budget deficit is higher than planned owing to the reduced inflow of funds. He explained that the withdrawal of public companies’ profits has not started yet, adding that it has to be completed in the next six months at the latest, which will add a considerable amount of money to the state budget.

As for direct foreign investment, Cvetkovic recalled that in the first four months €750 million were invested, €400 million of which were provided by Gazprom, which is much more than in the same period last year.

The Prime Minister voiced his belief that there will be more direct foreign investments by the end of this year, stressing that the government’s main aims are to encourage domestic production and provide a favourable environment for foreign investment.