During its official visit to Serbia, the IMF Mission confirmed that the country’s growth in 2019 would amount to at least 3.5%, Finance Minister. Sinisa Mali stated today.
Mali also underlined that it was very important that the IMF had confirmed the state’s prognosis in regard to the country’s economic growth.
The minister reminded that the country recorded economic growth of at least 4.3% in the past period.
“This year, it will be at least 3.5%, which is very important for banks’ plans. Both the IMF and the World Bank project that Serbia will be the fastest growing economy in the region by 2023,” he said.
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He added that the living standard would also grow significantly, as the prognosis of the IMF and the World Bank shows that the GDP per capita, which was around USD 7,200 in 2018, will be around USD 10,400 in 2023, a 44% increase.
Mali says that the biggest task for the state is to form an attractive market and that, after the fiscal consolidation and further maintenance of macroeconomic stability, the government has three crucial priorities – raising civil servant salaries and pensions, and, in turn, personal consumption, boosting capital investments, and continuing with the reduction of salary tax.
When it comes to state’s capital investments, Mali said that the year 2019 proved to be a record year so far in terms of the allocated amount, since over RSD 220 billion of the state budget money would be spent on capital investments. He added that over RSD 250 billion was planned for 2020.
“We will continue reducing the taxation of salaries. Last year, we eliminated an obligation for employers to pay 0.75% in assistance for unemployed. This year, I expect a further reduction of at least one percentage point,” the Finance Minister said.
He also underlined that a strong banking sector was the foundation of the real growth of Serbia’s economy.
(B92, 20.05.2019)
https://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2019&mm=05&dd=20&nav_id=1544493
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