On the occasion, Deputy Speaker Arsic said that by opening the Budget Office the National Assembly increases its capacities for scrutiny of public spending.

“The Budget Office will enable the MPs to take part in controlling the use of funds and actively participate in the planning of the budget of the Republic of Serbia. I am pleased to be able to say that no parliament in the region has a budget office making the one at the National Assembly the first and us the leaders in the region in this area”, said Arsic.

Chief Executive Officer of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy Anthony Smith said that the project of opening the Parliamentary Budget Office at the National Assembly is the most important one the Foundation is conducting in Europe.

“In any democratic society it is important to have the parliament perform its oversight duty, especially over public finances. I believe that the National Assembly has now taken the lead and will serve as a model for the region in the matter of public finance scrutiny and control”, said Smith.

Before the formal opening ceremony of the Office the representatives of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly’s partners on the project, met with the representatives of the parliamentary groups at the National Assembly and presented the operative concept of the Office.

The Budget Office was opened pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the National Assembly and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy as part of project “Strengthening the National Assembly’s capacities for the promotion of efficient parliamentary oversight of budget spending”.

Click here to watch the press conference on the opening of the Office.