The Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Bill on the Budget for 2024, which foresees total revenues and receipts in the state treasury 7.2 percent more in relation to the amount of income provided by the budget revision for this year.
“The proposed budget is developmental, which implies the continuation of high investments in capital investments, the construction of highways, high-speed railways, schools, hospitals, the policy of increasing wages and pensions, as well as building the country and protecting the living standards of citizens,” the announcement states.
This proposal envisages a fiscal budget deficit of EUR 1.7 million, which is 2.2 percent of GDP and which is lower than the planned deficit for this year, which was projected at 2.8 percent of GDP by rebalancing.
“The projected rate of economic growth for the year 2024, according to the estimate of the Ministry of Finance, is 3.5 percent of GDP. “The public debt of the state sector is projected at 51.7 percent of GDP in 2024, which is far below the 60 percent allowed by the Maastricht agreement,” the Government states.
Also, the medium-term fiscal framework foresees a gradual reduction of the deficit of the state sector to the level of 1.5 percent of GDP in 2026 and a decrease in the share of public debt to 50 percent of GDP.
“The budget proposal foresees that, starting from January 1st, 2024, pensions in Serbia will be higher by 14.8 percent, wages in the public sector by 10 percent, and the minimum wage by 17.8 percent,” the announcement states.
Also, so that the burden of increasing the minimum wage would not be completely transferred to employers, as of January 1st, 2024, as stated, it is planned to increase the non-taxable part of the gross salary by 15.1 percent.
