The Government adopted a restructure: „Deficit“ in the budget at RSD 483 billion

The Serbian government adopted the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on the Serbian Budget for 2020, which foresees total revenues of RSD 1,291.4 billion and expenditures in the amount of RSD 1,774.4 billion, i.e. a deficit of RSD 483 billion.

A new restructure of this year’s budget approved additional funds for prevention and mitigation of the consequences caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement of the Government states that the funds have been allocated for additional equipment in COVID hospitals, construction of hospitals in Belgrade and Krusevac, as well as purchase of medicines and medical supplies.

Payments to the Republic Health Insurance Fund, for the purchase of necessary equipment and medicines, have been increased in order to prevent the spread of the disease and provide better health care for all citizens.

The budget restructure also allocated funds for capital projects, extended implementation of the program of measures of economic assistance, allocation of subsidies to support the work of the hotel industry, maintenance of state roads, construction of highways, as well as direct incentives in agriculture.

The 2020 economic growth projection has been revised upwards from minus 1.8 percent to a minus one percent, which, as noted in the Government statement, „will represent one of the best results in Europe, and starting from the movement in the international environment, undertaken health measures and taking into account the effects of the adopted measures to support the economy and the population“.

In the absence of these measures to support the economy and the population, the decline in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 would be bigger, amounting to around five percent, the Serbian government estimated.

Izvor: Beta

Foto: BIZLife