Parliament elects new finance minister

Parliament elects new finance minister

BELGRADE -- The Serbian parliament on Monday elected Dušan Vujović to the position of the new finance minister with 175 votes in favor and nine against.

The new finance minister was sworn in during the same session.

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dačić presented the proposal to elect Vujović and called on all deputies to back it, noting that he was "sure Vujović will perform his office in the best interest of all citizens, in keeping with his experience and to great success."

Dačić "expressed certainty that Vujović will not resign and will persevere in the points he laid down in his oath and which he defines as his life policy and personal stand," and added that Vujović "will act within the principles the prime minister presented in his expose," Tanjug reported.

Earlier on Monday, parliament noted Vujović's resignation as minister of economy.

Lazar Krstić resigned as finance minister on July 12.

"Four pillars"

The economic reform in Serbia is based on controlling budget spending, fighting the gray economy, improving tax collection and cutting costs in public enterprises, Serbia's new Minister of Finance Dušan Vujović has said.

Vujović told the RTS late Monday that, as the new finance minister, he will immediately start working on the "four pillars of reforms", and that the results should become visible in a year.

The Serbian government is planning to prepare a budget revision by the end of August and table it to the parliament by September 15 at the latest, after which a three-year agreement would be signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Vujović said.

"It...