At the sitting held on 14 April and chaired by Committee Chairman Zoran Krasic, the Finance Committee discussed the Bill amending and modifying the Investment Funds Law; Report of the Ministry of Finance and National Bank of Serbia on the measures and activities implemented to overcome the financial and economic crisis in the country; Report of the National Bank of Serbia on the financial situation of the economic subjects in the country whose accounts are blocked; Report of the National Bank of Serbia on the situation in the financial system of the Republic of Serbia; National Bank of Serbia 2009 Financial Plan; National Bank of Serbia 2009 Monetary Policy Program; Deposit Insurance Agency’s 2007 Activity Report and Report of the Securities Commission of the Republic of Serbia on the trends on the organised securities market in the Republic of Serbia in the period January-December 2008 and 2008 Financial Report of the Securities Commission of the Republic of Serbia with the Report of Independent Auditor “Baker Tilly WB Auditing” Belgrade.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Slobodan Ilic briefly outlined the Bill amending and modifying the Investment Funds Law for the Committee members. He stressed that the Bill aims to ensure safer transactions of these funds and to slow down the fall in their property value, considering the impact of the world economic crisis on Serbia. Following a short discussion, the Committee accepted the Bill in principle by a majority of votes.

Radovan Jelasic, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia, and Slobodan Ilic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, presented the Report of the Ministry of Finance and National Bank of Serbia on the measures and activities implemented to overcome the financial and economic crisis in the country. Governor Jelasic stressed that NBS implemented the appropriate measures in due time in order to alleviate the overflow of the economic crisis into the Serbian market. The goal of these measures is maintenance of price stability, aiming total inflation at 8 +/- 2%, floating dinar exchange rate regime, high rates of obligatory foreign currency reserves, support of foreign investors and arrangement with WMF. State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Slobodan Ilic also gave a short outline of the Government’s program of measures connected with the set of financial measures which primarily protect the citizens’ deposits.

NBS Governor Radovan Jelasic shortly outlined the Report of the National Bank of Serbia on the financial situation of the economic subjects in the country whose accounts are blocked for the Committee members. He pointed out that almost 60,000 companies are blocked, and half of them have been blocked for more than two years.

The NBS Governor also presented the Report of the National Bank of Serbia on the situation in the financial system of the Republic of Serbia; National Bank of Serbia 2009 Financial Plan and National Bank of Serbia 2009 Monetary Policy Program.

In the continuation, the Committee members were briefed on the Deposit Insurance Agency’s 2007 Activity Report and Report of the Securities Commission of the Republic of Serbia on the trends on the organised securities market in the Republic of Serbia in the period January-December 2008 and 2008 Financial Report of the Securities Commission of the Republic of Serbia with the Report of Independent Auditor “Baker Tilly WB Auditing” Belgrade. The Reports were presented by Milorad Dzambic, director of the Deposit Insurance Agency, and Milko Stimac, director of the Securities Commission.

At the end of the sitting, Finance Committee Chairman Zoran Krasic informed the Committee members that the Working Group analysing the political parties’ 2007 reports is nearing the end of its work, and that the Committee is ready to submit all the documentation to the Anti-Corruption Agency which is in charge of financing of political parties.