Serbia's Jan-Oct Consolidated Budget Deficit at 17.5 Bln Dinars (206 Mln Euro)

Budget revenue through the first ten months of 2008 was 535.7 billion dinars, while spending totalled 553.3 billion dinars, the finance ministry said on its website. The ministry gave no comparative figures for the same period last year.

Earlier this month Serbia’s parliament agreed to spend an additional 15.4 billion dinars this year to support a 10% pension rise and finance aid to farmers, the construction of a key motorway and granting more incentives to its joint venture with Italy's Fiat.

The additional spending, part of rebalancing the country's 2008 budget, will increase the projected budget deficit to 2.0% of the gross domestic product (GDP) from 0.5% planned previously.

Serbia will raise the 2008 public spending to 695.9 billion dinars from the previously planned 680.5 billion dinars, and the gap in the rebalanced 2008 budget will increase to 45.8 billion dinars from 40.9 billion dinars.

As of July the ministry has been reporting the budget revenue and expenses in line with standard and internationally comparable methodology created by the International Monetary Fund.

The main difference between the previous and the new methodology is that the former methodology overestimated budget revenues by including the license for mobile telephony and underestimated expenses by failing to include loans and repayment of debt to pensioners.

Details from Serbia's consolidated budget follow as given by the Finance Ministry according to the new methodology (in billions of dinars):

(1 euro = 85.461 Serbian dinars)