The Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending and National Assembly Deputy Speaker Vesna Kovac stressed that the shadow economy is one of the biggest political and economic challenges the Serbian economy faces because it is an obstacle to the development of the economic sector and a functioning market economy. The fight against the shadow economy has to be an organised and long-lasting process, stressed Vesna Kovac adding that Serbia has already taken significant steps in the struggle and the establishment of macroeconomic stability.
The study, carried out by USAID and the Foundation for the Advancement of Economics (FREN), was presented by its author, Sasa Randjelovic, assistant at the Belgrade Faculty of Economics and member of FREN. Randjelovic said that the main goal of the study is to draft a strategy and recommendations to stimulate the formalisation of the shadow economy so as to boost the Serbian economy’s competitiveness and contribute to economic growth. The study identifies the causes of the shadow economy and gives recommendations for its formalisation through measure proposals in the spheres of fiscal policy, the labour market, financial sector and business conditions. Achieving this goal calls for a swift, synchronized and comprehensive implementation of all the identified measures, concluded the study author Sasa Randjelovic.
In the course of the discussion, the participants stressed that the study provides a comprehensive overview of the shadow economy problem and significant recommendations for its suppression.