June 15 (SeeNews) - Serbian finance minister Dusan Vujovic said on Thursday the most important task for the government from now on is to restructure the state-owned enterprises companies, mainly in the energy sector.
Serbia cannot prosper without solving the efficiency problems of state-owned energy companies such as power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) and natural gas distributor Srbijagas, Vujovic said in a video file posted on the website of Serbian news agency Tanjug.
The elimination of the hurdles to economic growth in the real sector is the most important task for Serbia's government now, Vujovic told reporters in the video file.
Serbia has already drafted reform plans for its financial sector and works on coping with the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks, Vujovic said. Efforts for strengthening the capital market are also being made.
Vujovic said on Tuesday he expects the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revise its projection for the country's budget deficit in 2017 to 1.3% from 1.7%, as revenue is growing faster than planned.
In March, the IMF said Serbia's general government deficit had narrowed to 1.4% of GDP in 2016, the lowest level since 2005, and general government debt had declined to 74% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Javno Preduzece Srbijagas is among the biggest companies in SEE. You can download our SEE Top 100 ranking
here or subscribe to our free Top 100 newsletter
here