At the request of the National Assembly deputy groups For European Serbia, G17 PLUS and SPS-US, in line with article 204 of the Rules of Procedure, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, set 26 February as Day to respond to deputies’ questions regarding a current issue. The Prime Minister and Government ministers responded to the deputies’ questions concerning the issue of “The Economic Crisis and the Government’s measures to overcome it”.

At the beginning of the sitting, the National Assembly Speaker reminded all present that the amendments to the Rules of Procedure introduced the institute of deputies’ questions concerning a current issue, known in parliamentary theory as the institute of “public hearings”.

The following deputies asked questions: Nada Kolundzija, Vladan Batic, Momo Colakovic, Zlata Djeric, Arpad Fermon, Zoran Ostojic, Milan Nikolic, Tomislav Nikolic, Suzana Grubjesic, Milos Aligrudic, Dragan Vujadinovic, Radoslav Mojsilovic, Vesna Pesic, Dejan Radenkovic, Jorgovanka Tabakovic, Radojko Obradovic, Vlajko Senic, Vlatko Ratkovic, Miroslav Markicevic, Slobodan Maras and Bozidar Delic.

The following responded to the posed questions: Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic and the Ministers of Finance Diana Dragutinovic, Trade and Services Slobodan Milosavljevic, Infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjic and the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Milan Markovic.

Prime Minister Cvetkovic responded to the inquires whether the world economic crisis has poured into Serbia and what the Government is doing about it. He said that Serbia is among the first countries which have begun solving the problems caused by the crisis. He illustrated it by the fact that the 2.17% of the gross domestic product allocated from the budget as a stimulus for the prevention of the negative effects of the crisis, puts Serbia at the very top. 0.58% of the gross domestic product have been allocated as an economic stimulus, 0.95% have been invested into infrastructure and 0.64% into the National Investment Plan.

When proposing the measures the Government follows the principles of political equality, solidarity and continuity, the development of the crisis is monitored from day to day and the measures are adjusted accordingly. At the beginning of the year, in agreement with the business sector and banks, the Government proposed a new stimulus package in the form of loans to the economy in order to ensure liquidity and stimulate export, as well as loans to citizens to stimulate the demand for domestic products.

Deputy Prime Minister Mladjan Dinkic responded to the question when the citizens will receive their thousand euros worth of free shares considering that NIS has been privatised. He said that the Law on Free Shares passed at the end of 2007 will be implemented, but it will be adjusted to the circumstances. The value of the shares that the citizens receive will depend on the time they are sold on the market. Amendments to the Law will be proposed in April, and the possibility of including the shares of the Commercial Bank, DDOR “Dunav” and some utility enterprises which will be privatised, into the free allocation is being considered.

In the case of Serbia’s joint venture with Fiat, Dinkic said that because of the difficulties Fiat has come upon in Italy and high expenses, the beginning of the production of the new car model will be postponed until the end of next year. At present, the existing model Punto is already being assembled in Kragujevac, and the production will exceed the envisaged 15 thousand vehicles.

Responding to the deputies’ questions, Minister of Finance Diana Dragutinovic stressed that Serbia will enter into a new arrangement with IMF which will be used to replenish the foreign currency reserves. The money from this arrangement can be used exclusively for the increase of foreign currency reserves and the stability of the exchange rate. She stressed that Serbia has one of the lowest budgetary deficits in the region and that its increase will help neutralise the drop in demand and stimulate economic activity. If the economic growth is much lower than planned, a more expansive fiscal policy will be implemented. The Minister also said that Serbian import has decreased by 30% which has reduced revenues from the value added tax.

Answering the question concerning the settlement of obligations to the pensioners, Prime Minister Cvetkovic said that the obligations towards the pensioners will be settled as planned by this year’s budget, regardless of the difficulties created by the economic crisis. Protection of the poorest will be one of the main points in the discussion of the budget rebalance, the Prime Minister announced. The decision on the rebalance will be passed in March, after the economic situation has been discussed and the talks with IMF are completed.

According to certain deputies, the economic crisis has had the biggest impact on agriculture, which is why the key for overcoming the crisis lies in bigger investments into this economic branch products of which can be exported. The deputies inquired who allowed the import of powdered milk and how much has been imported so far, who imported it and whether its underwent quality control. They also asked about the possibility of subsidizing tobacco.

Deputies from opposition parties deemed that the sitting where the Prime Minister and the Ministers respond to questions on state measures for combating the economic and financial crisis aims to avoid a serious discussion on the issue. It was estimated that the discussion is a surrogate discussion on the economic measures and that the deputies did not receive a single document on the measures the Government is implementing in response to the effects of the world economic crisis. According to them, it is necessary to prepare a National Assembly session where the Government’s measures against the effects of the economic crisis would be discussed and clearly tell the citizens what to expect this year.

Prime Minister Cvetkovic dismissed the deputies’ objections that the Parliament did not participate in passing the measures for the alleviation of the effects of the world economic crisis and stressed that all the measures have been implemented within the realm of laws and regulations adopted at the National Assembly. In addition, the Government’s measures had been discussed with all the deputy groups at the National Assembly.