Q:
A:
2010 year of economic recovery
Belgrade,
3 December 2009
Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said today that the year ahead will be a difficult one but it will bring economic recovery.
Author:
Tanjug
In an interview with Tanjug news agency, Cvetkovic said that Serbia will experience a positive growth rate next year, adding that the government has prepared the budget carefully in order to keep expenditure at a minimum while allocating funds to all necessary projects for next year.
We have adopted a budget, which according to our estimations, will make it possible for us to implement all our plans, stressed the Prime Minister, explaining that in terms of middle term planning the 2010 budget is a step ahead of earlier budgets.
He said that the budget for next year has been harmonised with the arrangements with the IMF, adding that plans have been made to reduce the budget deficit over the next few years.
Next year will be the first step, after that we will have further deficit reduction, said Cvetkovic, adding that the 2010 budget not only includes a deficit reduction plan but is also development oriented and makes infrastructure investment a priority.
The Prime Minister said that it must be kept in mind that the global economic crisis will have further consequences and two or three years will be required to deal with them
Despite this, I think that we will succeed in achieving our goals, with a good economic policy in place, further European integration and intensive cooperation with our other partners, Russia, US and China, said Cvetkovic.
He stressed that Serbia’s credit rating has gone up, according to the recent report by the international credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s, which is a confirmation of the success of the state’s economic policy.
Most countries’ credit rating dropped during the crisis but we managed to improve ours, which shows that we have a sound economic policy, stressed Cvetkovic, adding that the report also says that the rating could continue to improve.
Commenting on the report by the State Audit Institution (SAI), Cvetkovic said that the Institute has his full support and as Prime Minister he will insist that any irregularities observed are resolved. A section of the SAI’s Report points to certain omissions in the work of several ministries and I will demand from those ministers to resolve them and make sure that they do not reoccur, he noted.
The Prime Minister said he has a positive opinion about the SAI and the results of its first year of work, adding that by establishing the SAI, the government fulfilled another European standard and helped to increase transparency in terms of the use of taxpayers’ money. I am very pleased that this government is the first to have had the opportunity to view the SAI’s Report, thus increasing the transparency in the work of this and all future governments, Cvetkovic said, noting that the SAI and Serbian government will be partners in aiming to remove all detected inconsistencies and omissions.
Cvetkovic said that Serbia’s inclusion in the Schengen white list is extraordinary news, both for its citizens and its economy.
On one hand, this shows Europe’s wish to integrate Serbia, but it is also a kind of political support to our country, the Prime Minister stressed, voicing his belief that countries outside the Schengen Agreement, who still demand visas for Serbian citizens, will soon enter the visa liberalisation process.
As for the possibility of unfreezing the Transitional Trade Agreement at the upcoming meeting of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers, which is a precondition for Serbia’s application for EU candidacy, Cvetkovic said that his expectations are high, but refrained from proposing any deadline.
I prefer to get the job done first, and then talk about it. In the meantime, we are doing our best, the Prime Minister concluded.
We have adopted a budget, which according to our estimations, will make it possible for us to implement all our plans, stressed the Prime Minister, explaining that in terms of middle term planning the 2010 budget is a step ahead of earlier budgets.
He said that the budget for next year has been harmonised with the arrangements with the IMF, adding that plans have been made to reduce the budget deficit over the next few years.
Next year will be the first step, after that we will have further deficit reduction, said Cvetkovic, adding that the 2010 budget not only includes a deficit reduction plan but is also development oriented and makes infrastructure investment a priority.
The Prime Minister said that it must be kept in mind that the global economic crisis will have further consequences and two or three years will be required to deal with them
Despite this, I think that we will succeed in achieving our goals, with a good economic policy in place, further European integration and intensive cooperation with our other partners, Russia, US and China, said Cvetkovic.
He stressed that Serbia’s credit rating has gone up, according to the recent report by the international credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s, which is a confirmation of the success of the state’s economic policy.
Most countries’ credit rating dropped during the crisis but we managed to improve ours, which shows that we have a sound economic policy, stressed Cvetkovic, adding that the report also says that the rating could continue to improve.
Commenting on the report by the State Audit Institution (SAI), Cvetkovic said that the Institute has his full support and as Prime Minister he will insist that any irregularities observed are resolved. A section of the SAI’s Report points to certain omissions in the work of several ministries and I will demand from those ministers to resolve them and make sure that they do not reoccur, he noted.
The Prime Minister said he has a positive opinion about the SAI and the results of its first year of work, adding that by establishing the SAI, the government fulfilled another European standard and helped to increase transparency in terms of the use of taxpayers’ money. I am very pleased that this government is the first to have had the opportunity to view the SAI’s Report, thus increasing the transparency in the work of this and all future governments, Cvetkovic said, noting that the SAI and Serbian government will be partners in aiming to remove all detected inconsistencies and omissions.
Cvetkovic said that Serbia’s inclusion in the Schengen white list is extraordinary news, both for its citizens and its economy.
On one hand, this shows Europe’s wish to integrate Serbia, but it is also a kind of political support to our country, the Prime Minister stressed, voicing his belief that countries outside the Schengen Agreement, who still demand visas for Serbian citizens, will soon enter the visa liberalisation process.
As for the possibility of unfreezing the Transitional Trade Agreement at the upcoming meeting of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers, which is a precondition for Serbia’s application for EU candidacy, Cvetkovic said that his expectations are high, but refrained from proposing any deadline.
I prefer to get the job done first, and then talk about it. In the meantime, we are doing our best, the Prime Minister concluded.
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