BRNABIC: Another Budget Rebalance Possible

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated yesterday that no investor had canceled their arrival and that new employments were expected, and she also announced the possibility of another budget rebalance in 2020.

After visiting the Science-Technology Park in Belgrade, Brnabic told the press that she was satisfied with the state budget, but that the revenues were understandably lower than usual. She added that they were still better than the revenues projected at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.

The prime minister said that, in March, Serbia had a growth of 5-5.2%, which gave hope that the year could end with a minimal economic drop of 1.8% or even a slight growth.

As she added, a considerable drop will be posted for April, which can already be seen from indicators such as the consumption of electricity and the budget revenues, whereas in May, according to her, the economy restarted, faster or slower, depending on the sector.

– I am sorry that we were forced to slightly limit our budget, which is very investment-oriented this year, but we have continued all the main infrastructure projects and projects in the domain of research and development. The budget for the government's priorities remains unchanged – Brnabic said.

She announced the possibility of a budget rebalance, depending on the revenues. As the situation is favorable at the moment, as she says, this will not happen immediately.

Brnabic also said that local companies and foreign investors had unanimously praised the Government of Serbia's measures for the recovery of the economy in the amount of 11% of the GDP, or more than EUR 5 billion.

– So far, no one has canceled, there have been no postponements of the dates of arrival, the facilities are supposed to open and I expect that there will be more jobs. That is what we base our moderate optimism for 2020 on – Brnabic said.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Government of Serbia

Ana Brnabić

budget rebalance

foreign investments

coronavirus

covid 19