Serbian gov't unveils 2018 budget aimed at growth, austerity

BELGRADE, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Serbian parliament on Thursday adopted the state budget for 2018, which aims to stimulate consumption and capital investments, at the same time to continue with fiscal consolidation measures and reforms, the government stated on Thursday.

The budget, proposed by the government, envisages 1,178 billion RSD (11.6 billion U.S. dollars) of income and 1,207 billion RSD of expenditure.

The budget law was adopted with majority of 150 out of 250 MP votes.

"The main goals of the budget focus on maintaining the level of macroeconomic stability achieved so far and continuing to implement measures of fiscal consolidation, along with further decreasing of the share of the public debt in the GDP which started in 2016," the press release of the government reads.

The government highlights that the new budget foresees bonuses for employees in the security sector, such as intelligence, police and army officers, as well as the increase of salaries for employees in public sector and administration between 5 and 10 percent, as well as increase of pensions by 5 percent.

Fiscal deficit is projected at 0.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) or 28.4 billion RSD, while growth of the GDP is projected at 3.5 percent. Enditem