Energy, Welfare Costs Forced Budget Rebalancing

Transmission line (BETAPHOTO/MILAN TIMOTIC/DS)

Enormous losses by state-run energy enterprises and large budget allocations for one-off payments to certain categories were behind a new budget rebalancing bill passed by the Parliament of Serbia last week. A decision to change the national financial plan has been criticized by experts and the opposition alike. They claim that had the government managed the public companies more effectively and had it been more selective so as to restrict its assistance to most vulnerable categories, there would be no rise in the budget deficit from three to nearly four percent.