Serbia’s budget surplus RSD 7 billion in 2017 first quarter

The Ministry of Finance of Serbia reported on Saturday, April 1, 2017, that, according to preliminary results, the budget surplus in the first quarter amounts to RSD 7 billion.

As stated, the annual budget and the quarterly goals defined with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) envisaged a deficit of RSD 47.5 billion at the end of March 2017, making the final result better by around RSD 55 billion that projected.

The result was driven by an increased income (around RSD 33 billion) and, to a slightly lesser extent, expenditures lower than planned (RSD 21.3 billion), the press release says.

Thanks to an improved collection of VAT, tobacco excise tax and income tax, tax revenues were higher by around RSD 17 billion than planned.

The collection of VAT amounted to RSD 109.6 billion, around 5% more than planned, whereas around RSD 8 billion was collected in excise taxes, mostly as a result of increased tobacco product excise tax collection.

Expenditures lower than expected were recorded in transfers to Mandatory Social Insurance Organizations and other levels of authority (RSD 9.3 billion) and guarantee debt repayment (RSD 5.7 billion). As a result of positive market trends, the payment of contributions to the Mandatory Social Insurance Funds is higher, and the need for transfers from the budget is accordingly lower.

The ministry said that the result was better than in the corresponding period of 2015, when the budget deficit amounted to RSD 8.9 billion.

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Međunarodni monetarni fond - MMF Beograd

budget of Serbia

International Monetary Fund

IMF

budget surplus Serbia

value added tax

VAT

tobacco excise tax

income tax

Mandatory Social Insurance Organizations