April 14 (SeeNews) - Serbia's fiscal council, an independent state body, has accused the government of overspending about 2.0 billion euro ($2.2 billion) in its measures aimed at mitigating the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
"Serbia has not been economical in implementing its anti-crisis package. The government has established an aid mechanism similar to those in other countries (supporting the healthcare system, the economy and citizens), but it has gone to the other extreme, giving budget money where it was not necessary," the fiscal council said in a statement on Wednesday.
Spending in support of the economy and citizens was irrational which led to overspending of 1.7 - 1.8 billion euro, while the usage of budget resources was 50% above the average for Central and Eastern Europe, the fiscal council said.
"We estimate that a similar economic effect of anti-crisis measures could have been achieved with about 2 billion euro less spent. Taking into account both factors - that Serbia gave 1.7-1.8 billion euro more for anti-crisis measures to support the economy and the population than comparable countries, and that the Serbian economy was less affected by the crisis - we conclude that the anti-crisis package in Serbia could have been about 2 billion euro less," the fiscal council noted.
The fiscal council is accountable to Serbia's parliament. Its mission is to assess the credibility of the fiscal policy in terms of compliance with established fiscal rules and to provide the publicity and responsibility in fiscal policy implementation. It has three members.
($ = 0.91653 euro)