Economists, Business Owners Differ Over Government Aid During Pandemic

Ljubodrag Savic (YouTube screenshot)

A leading Serbian economist said on Feb. 10 that the government should choose very carefully which companies to support and to what degree, while employers suggested that all companies, big and small, were in need of assistance.

A professor at the Belgrade School of Economy, Ljubodrag Savic, said to BETA that it's basic economic logic that the state should support national economy in a crisis, but it's important not to make mistakes in choosing when, how and whom exactly.  "It's very important to choose carefully who the recipients of government aid will be, and determine the size of it on a case-by-case basis, aware of implications the decisions will have for the public debt. The government needs to stop somewhere, mindful of the new generations that will have to repay the loans taken for this purpose," the professor explained to a BETA journalist.

On the other hand, the director of the Union of Serbian Employers, Slobodan Djinovic, argues that there should be no discrimination in the process, and that all companies deserved help, the size notwithstanding.

"The pandemic initially hit small enterprises, but as lockdown has affected foreign partners, the effects of the pandemic are now felt in large companies as well," Djinovic said, adding that parts of China were locking down and that it's increasingly difficult to get raw materials.