FISCAL COUNCIL: Budget deficit in 2017 nearly equal to one in 2016

The Government of Serbia has not planned considerable savings in the 2017 budget, which will make the deficit nearly equal to the one in 2016, estimated the Fiscal Council on December 9.

– Including one-off payments to pensioners and the repayment of Petrohemija’s debt, it is estimated that this year’s deficit will amount to around 2% of the GDP. Not counting those expenditures, the deficit would amount to 1.5% of the GDP, as much as has been planned for 2017 – says the report of the Fiscal Council on 2017 budget proposition.

It was pointed out that savings of RSD 5 billion based on reduced transfers to local self-governments were planned as the most important measure for reducing the budget deficit.

The Fiscal Council estimates that the greatest danger to the budget are debts of public and state-owned enterprises toward Srbijagas and Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), estimated at RSD 15 to 20 billion for 2016.

The list of the biggest gas debtors includes MSK, Azotara and Galenika, whereas the list of the biggest electricity debtors includes Resavica, PKB, Politika, Yumco and IMR.

Pavle Petrovic, president of the Fiscal Council, stated that the relatively low budget deficit in 2017, in the amount of RSD 69 billion, would lead to the reduction of the public debt relative to the GDP by around 1.1 percentage points.

Fiskalni savet Republike Srbije

Vlada Republike Srbije

HIP-Petrohemija a.d. Pančevo

JP Srbijagas Novi Sad

Elektroprivreda Srbije ad Beograd

HKPK Yumco a.d. Vranje

Politika a.d. Beograd

JP PEU Resavica

Galenika a.d. Beograd

HIP-AZOTARA d.o.o. Pančevo

MSK a.d Kikinda

budget of Serbia for 2017

budget deficit for 2017

EPS

MSK

Yumco

IMR

debts of public and state owned enterprises

public debt