|
- Minister of Finance
Diana Dragutinovic has confirmed that an agreement has been reached with
the IMF that the public sector salary and pension freeze will continue
to be in place until the end of this year and that in 2011 three
adjustments will be made, in January, April and October - it is stated on the website of the Serbian Government.
In an interview for tomorrow’s edition of the Ekonomist magazine,
Dragutinovic said that in January 2011 salaries and pensions would be
increased in accordance with the six-month inflation, or by a little less
than 3%.
In April, they will be adjusted for three-month
inflation and half of the GDP growth rate, while in October, adjustments will made for six-month inflation, she explained.
According to the Ministry of
Finance, a further RSD 12 billion will have to be set aside for this
purpose in the 2011 budget, nearly RSD 4 billion more than was agreed
upon in an earlier agreement under which salaries and pensions were to
remain unaltered until April next year, she outlined.
She
emphasised that the fiscal responsibility bill had been finalized with
the IMF and that it would be put before the Parliament by 20 September
2010 at the latest. The adoption of this bill is a condition for the
approval of the fifth revision of Serbia’s standby arrangement with the
IMF.
The bill will ensure that the fiscal deficit in 2011 does not exceed 4% of GDP, concluded the Minister.
|
| 
| 
