Serbian economy successful in 2008

Belgrade, Dec 17, 2008 – Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic today said that the Serbian economy was successful during 2008 but the country will have to face challenges in the coming year that it has not met with up until now.
Speaking at the Summit meeting of Largest Serbian Exporters organised by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic’s cabinet and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Cvetkovic said that we are facing an economic crisis of historic proportions.

He said that it was noticed during the last trimester of this year that the crisis will also hit countries that were not affected initially, adding that one of Serbia’s largest problems is a high foreign trade deficit, therefore exporters have a very important role to play.

The Prime Minister said that the government has taken a series of restrictive as well as incentive measures and a sum of nearly €200 million in incentives will be made available through the Development Fund, as well as €250 million for encouraging the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, loaned by the European Investment Bank.

Cvetkovic said that the banking sector is liquid but the liquidity level of the rest of the economy is not very high.

He said that solidarity and shared responsibility are the principles required to deal with the crisis, reiterating that the government will make every effort to avoid hyperinflation.

He said that he expects that the 2009 budget will be approved by the end of the year, adding that in the case that this does not happen interim financing will be necessary for only a few days, until the budget is adopted.

He said that the government will withdraw one law from the Parliament’s agenda to shorten discussion and to initiate the debate on the budget, which could begin as early as tomorrow, although this is not definite.

He said that the Horgos-Pozega concession contract cannot be terminated because it never came into force.

He said that the December 31 deadline for the concessionaire, Sever Jug Autoput, to complete financial preparations has not expired yet and a discussion about further steps by the government can only begin after that date.

Cvetkovic confirmed that the government yesterday received a note from the concessionaire and is familiar with the proposal put forth by the mediator.

The purpose of the Largest Serbian Exporters Summit is to hold talks with business-people in order to examine the current economic situation and to present the measures planned by the government and the National Bank of Serbia to support the economy and exports.

Prominent business-people and entrepreneurs will present their opinions and recommendations at the meeting to jointly reach solutions to mitigate the effects of the global financial crisis.