Serbian Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović said Friday that she expected the total budget revenue in 2011 to exceed earlier forecasts by about RSD 10bn.
“Based on these two months – December of last and January of this year – I can accurately predict the revenue in 2011,” she said, adding that she was almost certain it would be “at least RSD 10bn higher than planned.”
Serbian Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović has asked the EU Delegation in Serbia to come out with an official stance on the amendments to the Excise Tax Law.
She asked whether the amendments to the Excise Tax Law violated the directives of the EU and Serbia’s Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).
Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović believes there will be pressure to review the 2011 budget, noting, however, that the budget deficit must remain unchanged. “I was surprised by the inflation growth in the conditions of stagnation, but I do not believe that fiscal policy is what caused it,” Dragutinović stated in an interview for the Belgrade-based daily Politika on Monday.
Serbian MPs finished debating the draft budget for 2011 last night, which envisages budget deficit of RSD 120.5bn.
Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović says that what bothered her the most was one-sided approach to the debate.
Price of cigarettes will go up by about RSD 20 for one pack in 2011 after Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović decided to increase cigarette excise tax.
This way the state intends to raise RSD 3bn more than it was previously planned, daily Blic reports.
Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović says the technical talks with the IMF finished Thursday with the terms of the 6th review of the stand-by “finely defined”.
She also announced that the government should pass the 2011 budget bill by December 15 at the latest.
Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović has denied that her department is drafting new legislation aimed at taxing the rich. She stated in Belgrade on Thursday that the ministry was merely preparing changes to existing laws regulating this area.
The practice of imposing taxes on offshore companies is unheard of anywhere in Europe, economic experts have told B92.
This reaction came after announcements from Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović that her ministry was drafting a new corporate tax law.
The government and the IMF have agreed on a revision of Serbia’s current budget, says Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović.
However, the issues of pensions and the state budget for 2011 remain open, she said in Belgrade on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović says Serbia is borrowing money from ten commercial banks in order to finance the budget deficit. The state will take out loans worth EUR 250mn.
A draft of the 2010 budget revision is ready but it will only be forwarded to the government and parliament after the talks with the IMF. This will take place after the talks on the sixth revision of the current arrangement are completed, Serbian Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović said on Tuesday.
The Serbian government and the International Monetary Fund have agreed that pensions and public sector salaries will remain frozen until the end of the year. The salaries and pensions will adjusted three times over the course of the next year – in January, April and October, said Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović.
Head of the IMF mission visiting Serbia Albert Jaeger said on Monda that Serbia has followed a good and responsible fiscal policy. He met with Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković and Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović.
Despite the fact that top government officials have downplayed her statements, Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović continues to insist on taxation changes. She once again mentioned her plans for increasing the Value Added Taxes (VATs) and decreasing the taxes on wages at a recent economic forum in Mokra Gora.
Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović said today that China will donate EUR 1.5mn to the Serbian Interior Ministry (MUP) and the Military Medical Academy (VMA). Dragutinović made the statement in Belgrade after her meeting with a Chinese delegation headed by Deputy Minister and Director of the General Administration of Customs Sun Yibiao.
Serbian Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović and European Investment Bank (EIB) Adriatic regional executive Dominique Courbin signed an agreement today. The agreement regulates a EUR 50mn loan for education in Serbia.
Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović says the revenues from privatization in 2010 are expected to amount to EUR 1.6 -1.7bn. This figure would include the expected sale of the state’s 40-percent stake in telecommunications company Telekom Serbia, which the minister expects will bring no less than EUR 1.5bn.
The Serbian government and the IMF have reached agreement in their talks on the fourth revision of the stand-by arrangement. The loan is worth a total of EUR 2.9bn, and Serbia will now be able to use another tranche in the amount EUR 380mn, Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović announced on Thursday in Belgrade.
The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) should continue to prevent sudden changes of the dinar (RSD) exchange rate, Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović says.
She said that the exchange rate changes were the consequence of “speculative strikesâ€.
The second day of the EBRD General Assembly conference in Zagreb has begun with the final meeting of governors from participating parties behind closed doors. Serbian Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović is participating in the talks.
