Ministry of Finance preparing 2020 budget – Minimum wage increase, subway, EUR 300 million for roads...

The Ministry of Finance is well on its way to preparing the budget for 2020, Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said and added that a large part of the budget would be set aside for public investments, that is, for road and railway infrastructure.

– We expect nearly EUR 300 million to be set aside for the purpose, which is the largest amount set aside from the budget in the past years – Mali told Srpska Ekonomija on the occasion of the first anniversary of his taking over the position of the finance minister.

He said that the state aimed to build even more roads and connect with the region and with Europe that way, for which considerable funds have been set aside from next year's budget.

He says that, with the public finances consolidated, the biggest challenge is where to find new sources of growth, and that this is why they're working on reducing the burdens on the economy, new loans and, in cooperation with the World Bank, on a new growth agenda.

One of the items in the budget, he says, will certainly be the funds for the elections which are supposed to be held in the spring of 2020.

He also says that a new increase of the minimum wage will take place in September and that another salary raise can be expected in the public sector.

In order for the measures the state is undertaking to reflect on the general environment in the country and for young and educated people to be encouraged to stay in the country, a little more time is needed, he says.

He adds that the government is founding the Agency for Circular Migrations in order to motivate young people to return to the country through concrete measures. One of the measures that have already been implemented, he says, is to free young entrepreneurs from the obligation to pay taxes and contributions in the first year of doing business.

As for the construction of the subway system in Belgrade, Mali says that he hopes that the financial arrangement for this expensive project will be devised soon.

– Due to its size, the state will help Belgrade finance this project, as the city couldn't do it alone. In the previous feasibility study of the French company Egis, it was estimated that the first two lines would cost EUR 4 billion, which is a huge amount, but this is still a good moment for it, as our budget is healthy and our finances stable.

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Egis d.o.o. Beograd-Stari Grad

Svetska Banka-WB Beograd

Agency for Circular Migrations

Siniša Mali

budget

investments in roads

young entrepreneurs

minimum wage increase

subway construction