November 21 (SeeNews) - Serbia's government said it has adopted the 2019 draft budget envisaging revenues of 1.246 trillion dinars ($12 billion/10.5 billion euro) and expenses of 1.269 trillion dinars.
The budget is realistic and balanced, aimed at improving the quality of life of citizens and encouraging investments in capital projects, as well as stimulating further economic growth, the government said in a statement on Tuesday.
"This year we have excellent economic results - in the first nine months, the economic growth rate is 4.5% and we are among the five fastest growing economies in Europe. Unemployment is decreasing and compared to 2013, when it was 25%, now the unemployment rate is below 12%," finance minister Sinisa Mali said in a separate statement.
Serbia's public debt is falling in relation to GDP and currently stands at 56% of the estimated 2018 GDP, showing that the Serbian economy is becoming more stable, Mali said.
"We are primarily thinking about rasing the standard of living of citizens. The budget envisages an increase in pensions for all pensioners. Salaries in the public sector will be lifted by 7% to 12%, and this increase will apply from January 2019," the finance minister said.
Capital investments in the draft budget are planned at 220 billion dinars which be used to finance improvements to Serbia's infrastructure.
Mali also said that Serbia is expected to close 2018 with a budget surplus equivalent to 0.6% of GDP, or about 28 billion dinars.
Serbia's budget was in surplus of 36.8 billion dinars in the first eight months of 2018, compared to a surplus of 66.5 billion dinars in the prior-year period, according to finance ministry data.
The budget of Serbia swung to a surplus of 33.9 billion dinars in 2017 from a deficit of 7.9 billion dinars in the previous year.
(1 euro = 118.378 dinars)