EU supports Serbia's efforts in fiscal consolidation

BRUSSELS/BELGRADE - EU ministers of finance and economy and officials of the European Central Bank expressed their support to the efforts Serbia is investing in fiscal stabilisation and strengthening of economic growth, states the release issued by the Serbian Ministry of Finance.

The new Serbian government is committed to EU integration and European reforms, Serbian Finance Minister Lazar Krstic confirmed at the ministerial meeting in Brussels on Tuesday which was also attended by the officials of the National Bank of Serbia and ministers of EU candidate countries.

Krstic said that goals such as the stable export-based economic growth, reduction of budget deficit and strengthening of financial stability are only a part of the plan which the Serbian government intends to carry out in the next three or four years.

This is a plan which entails a deep reform in public enterprises, completion of the restructuring process in 157 companies with government stakes and consolidation of the government share in the financial sector, states the release.

The amendments to the law on labour, careful control of subsidies in keeping with the EU regulations in the area and establishment of more rigorous fiscal discipline in the public sector are the tasks of the new government, Krstic underscored.

Serbia is facing ambitious and properly set plans and one of the biggest tasks is the public administration reform, Krstic said as quoted in the release.

Photo Tanjug,F.Kraincanic