Fiscal Council: Serbia could now use 2 billion euros that were spent irrationally

A new crisis is possible in Serbia this year, and two billion euros that were irrationally spent during the covid pandemic would be welcome now, the Fiscal Council said in an analysis of anti-crisis budgetary measures during the pandemic.

Serbia’s public finances can still be assessed as stable in principle, but the excessive and excessively indiscriminate spending in the previous two years was wrong, the analysis says.

„Not only has public debt increased by about two billion euros more than necessary due to indiscriminate spending, but the available economic policy mechanisms in a possible new crisis have also been reduced unnecessarily,“ said the Fiscal Council, as cited by the Beta agency.

The war in Ukraine, as stated, with the already high inflation and energy crisis, will lead to a new economic instability in European countries, which would practically build on the health crisis.

For the anti-crisis package of measures, Serbia spent, relatively speaking, 55 percent more funds from the budget compared to comparable countries in Central and Eastern Europe, i.e. 10.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), which made it a record holder compared to all the countries, which spent an average of 6.7 percent of GDP.

The allocated budget funds for support to the economy in Serbia were too high, which saved employment, but the problem is their irrational distribution, the Fiscal Council stated.

Izvor: Beta

Foto: Beta/Miloš Miškov