Today at the National Assembly House, the members of the Finance Committee met with the representatives of the IMF technical mission, headed by Richard Allen, Deputy Director of the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department. The meeting focused on the introduction of the fiscal responsibility principle into the public finance system in the Republic of Serbia and the Committee’s role in it.

Committee Deputy Chairperson Branka Ljiljak and Committee members Vlajko Senic and Zoran Kasalovic presented the Committee’s sphere of competence stressing that a discussion on the State Audit Institution’s audit report on the financial statement of the Republic of Serbia 2008 Budget and the 2010 Budget Bill were the Committee’s main tasks in the upcoming period. The Committee Deputy Chairperson also added that the National Assembly Act was being drafted which would grant the Finance Committee wider jurisdiction primarily regarding the control over public finance. It was stressed that the Committee currently lacked adequate capacity for a control role and active participation in the adoption of the budget. The officials emphasised the importance of defining specific elements of fiscal responsibility for the future so as not to overstep the legal deadlines within which the budget should be adopted.

The representatives of the IMF technical mission briefed the Finance Committee members on the cooperation they enjoy with the Finance Ministry’s task group in the preparation of amendments and modifications to the Budget System Law pertaining to fiscal responsibility. They stated that, to this end, fiscal rules should be defined to limit fiscal indebtedness and fiscal deficit, limit the expenditure of state institutions and introduce the institute of fiscal council, an independent body that controls the state’s fiscal policy.

In the meeting, the unstable political situation was declared the main culprit of Serbia’s fiscal irresponsibility. It was also pointed out that the Committee had lent the State Audit Institution its full support, as well as the importance of discussing the audit report on the 2008 Final Budget at a Finance Committee sitting.