August 12 (SeeNews) - Serbia plans to invest up to 12 billion euro ($13.4 billion) to develop public transport, energy and digital infrastructure in the next five years, president Aleksandar Vucic has said.
The government also intends to build houses for young people and support the development of tourism, Vucic said in a press release on Sunday.
A total of 1 billion euro will be invested in the reconstruction of the Belgrade-Presevo railway, at least 1.3 billion euro in regional roads, 700 million euro in schools and healthcare facilities, and 500 million euro in digital infrastructure and energy efficiency each, Vucic elaborated.
"We plan to build a sewage network with water purifiers, plus water supply, in which, with the exception of Belgrade, we will invest 3 billion euro, which means that every village and every city will have a sewerage system and clean water in four to five years," Vucic noted.
The investment plan also includes the construction of a metro network in Belgrade, a national stadium and nine more stadiums in Serbia, the construction of a concert hall for the national philharmonic orchestra, as well as the relocation of the Nikola Tesla Museum.
In a separate statement, Serbia's finance minister Sinisa Mali said Serbia will be able to make the investment, as the government has managed to stabilise public finances and is now focused on supporting the country's economic growth.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) affirmed its forecast for Serbia's 2019 economic expansion at 3.5%, as it expects gross domestic product (GDP) growth to pick up in the second half of the year.
($ = 0.892407 euro)