BRNABIC: Public debt of Serbia to be lowered to 62% of the GDP by the end of the year

(Ana Brnabic) Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic stated today that Serbia had good economic indicators, despite the drought-induced problems in agriculture and the hydropower sector, and that the public debt would be lowered to 62% of the GDP by the end of the year.

Brnabic confirmed that salaries and pensions would certainly be raised, but said that it was too early to discuss the percentages at the moment.

– We said that the economic growth would probably be below the initial projection of 3%, primarily due to weather conditions, unfortunately, namely, the extremely hard winter, which negatively effected the production of electricity, primarily in the heating sector, but also due to the drought which affected the agriculture and the production of electricity in the hydropower sector, but all the other indicators are very good – Brnabic told the press.

She said that she had discussed the issue with the Fiscal Council and that the parameters show that there was an “economic reconvalescence” and a higher-then-expected export, marked by a growth by 10-12%.

As she says, the industry has also realized a growth by 6-8%.

– There's also a reduction of the public debt by much more than planned and it is now at 64.5%, and we expect it to possible go down to 62% of the GDP by the end of the year – Brnabic said and added that that was very encouraging.

Brnabic says that Serbia could have had a better economic growth, but that next year will be much better.

According to her, it's quite challenging to achieve a drastic reduction in the public debt and an increase in the economic growth at the same time, which, as she says, do not go together in economic terms, but she adds that there's no reason to worry at the moment.

– As the prime minister, I am not worried as long as everything else is going well – Brnabic said.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Ana Brnabic

public debt of Serbia

gross domestic product of Serbia

reduction of public debt of Serbia

public debt

reduction of public debt

GDP

economic growth of Serbia