Vujovic: Up to 10 pct cut in salaries, pensions

BELGRADE - Dusan Vujovic, Serbia's minister of economy and acting finance minister, said on Friday that the Serbian government will strive to ensure that public sector salaries and pensions are not reduced by more than 10 percent.

After a meeting at the Serbian Association of Economists, which was attended by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, economists, businessmen and bankers, he said that further details concerning the announced reduction in public sector salaries and pensions and other government measures will be known after the completion of a draft budget review.

Vujovic said that the cut in salaries and pensions is just one part of fiscal consolidation, while the other part comprises measures for curbing the gray economy, primarily cigarette smuggling.

The reduction in salaries and pensions will result in around two-thirds of the needed drop in the deficit, Vujovic said.
Next year, I hope that the issue of reducing salaries and pensions will not even be raised, the main measures will focus on the revenue side of the budget, and there is also a possibility of raising the value added tax (VAT), Vujovic noted.