The bills were presented by Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali and President of the Fiscal Council of the Republic of Serbia Pavle Petrovic. The Minister of Finance said that there are five reasons for the budget rebalance, namely better budgetary revenues i.e. additional 180 billion RSD to be distributed in areas that need financial assistance. He added that the global energy crisis and high energy prices also affected the budget rebalance. Another reason for the rebalance, the Minister said, are further efforts to improve the living standards of Serbian citizens, i.e. increase pensions by 9% on 1 November, as well as salaries in the public sector and the army, minimum wage and relieving the economy through an increase in tax-free income. The Minister went on to explain that the rebalance also allocates funds to support young people aged 16 to 30, adding that a large section of the budget was allocated for social benefits. The President of the Fiscal Council said that the budget rebalance foresees an increase in the deficit from 3 to 4% of GDP, which is justified considering the energy crisis. He said that the deficit is the result of three groups of factors, namely a strong acceleration of inflation and, as a result of it, the acceleration in income and expenditure that did not follow inflation. The second reason is a large number of expenditure policies that were not originally planned, and the third is the financing of energy sector public companies’ losses. Petrovic also mentioned the generally good side of the rebalance, that is keeping the large allocations for public investments, which will amount up to 7.5% of GDP at the state level.

Following a discussion, the Committee decided to propose that the National Assembly accept the bills, in principle and appointed MP Dr Aleksandra Tomic rapporteur on these items at the National Assembly session.

The Committee proceeded to complete a joint and single debate on the Bill on the Confirmation of the Facility Agreement China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation insured facility of up to EUR 79,916,833.43 to finance the removal of the old Sava Bridge and the construction of a new steel arch bridge between the Republic of Serbia, represented by the Government of the Republic of Serbia acting by and through the Ministry of Finance as Borrower, BNP PARIBAS SA as Arranger, BNP PARIBAS FORTIS SA/NV and BNP PARIBAS SA as Original Lenders, and BNP PARIBAS SA as Agent, Agreement on amendments and modifications no.1 of 19 May 2022 and Agreement on amendments and modifications no.2 of 20 October 2022, Bill on the Confirmation of the Loan Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and Abu Dhabi Fund for Development to Finance Support the General Budget of the Republic of Serbia and the Bill on the Confirmation of the Loan Agreement between KfW, Frankfurt am Main and the Republic of Serbia for the Programme Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment in Medium-Sized Municipalities in Serbia VI (Phase II), submitted by the Government

The bills were presented by Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali and after a discussion the Committee decided to propose that the National Assembly accept them.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Veroljub Arsic and attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Snezana Paunovic, Vladimir Obradovic, Djordje Stankovic, Nenad Mitrovic, Bojana Bukumirovic, Nebojsa Zelenovic, Haji Milorad Stosic, Rozalia Okresz, Miroslav Kondic, Dragan Jovanovic, Nikola Radosavljevic, Dr Aleksandra Tomic and Tijana Davidovac, as well as MPs not members of the Committee: Bosko Obradovic, Zoran Stojanovic, Marinika Tepic and Prof. Dr Marko Atlagic.