Serbia to approve 2025 state budget proposal, focused on infrastructure and development

The Government of Serbia will approve the proposal for the 2025 state budget, announced Finance Minister Siniša Mali. He emphasized that this marks the first budget proposal prepared under the country’s investment credit rating, which represents a significant milestone.

Minister Mali noted that since completing fiscal consolidation in 2018 and 2019, Serbia has pursued a development-oriented policy focused on improving citizens’ incomes and investing in infrastructure, including roads, highways, schools and hospitals. He assured that this commitment to development will continue into 2025.

He also revealed that this year’s budget proposal includes specific projects that will be carried out in the coming year.

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“For the first time, and in line with the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we are providing transparency by presenting the largest projects to be financed through next year’s budget. These are part of the ongoing Serbia 2020-2027 program, which we defined several years ago. Under this program, we are working on nine highways, high-speed roads, high-speed railways, the EXPO, and the Clinical Center of Vojvodina,” Minister Mali explained during an interview on RTS’s morning program.

Mali further highlighted that next year, 7.4% of Serbia’s GDP will be allocated to capital investments, maintaining the focus on infrastructure and development.

On the topic of Serbia’s economic performance, the Finance Minister pointed out that the growth rate in the EU for the first three quarters of the year was 0.8%, while Serbia’s economy grew by 3.9%.

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Regarding recent claims by the Fiscal Council of Serbia about the National Stadium’s cost exceeding initial estimates, Mali clarified that this information was inaccurate. The Finance Minister stated that the stadium’s construction will cost €464 million, plus VAT, which includes the infrastructure related to the Expo. The higher figures discussed previously were a result of incorrect data collection.

“The stadium’s cost is €464 million, with VAT included. They mistakenly added the Expo infrastructure costs, which led to the higher estimate. We have now clarified the correct figures with the Fiscal Council,” Mali confirmed.