Budget deficit in January – about 800m RSD

- The deficit in the budget of Serbia in January 2009 amounted to about 800m RSD because the incomes amounted to 45 billion RSD, while the expenses were 45.8 billion RSD – the Ministry of Finance announced.

Collection of value added tax (VAT) brought major share of incomes – 25 billion RSD. The incomes from duties were smaller in January 2009 than in the same month last year because of the reduced import, and they amounted to 2.9 billion RSD.

The budget for year 2009 anticipates that the incomes from duties will amount to 50.8 billion RSD. The main items in the budget expenses are: payment of mandatory social security to organizations – 17.4 billion RSD, and payment of salaries for employees – 14.6 billion RSD.

According to the Law on budget for year 2009, projected incomes amount to 698.8 billion RSD, while projected expenses amount to 748.7 billion RSD, so that the budget deficit would reach the amount of 49.9 billion RSD. The public debt of Serbia amounted to 8.9 billion EUR at the end of January, 3.1 billion EUR of which is internal debt, while 4.8 billion EUR is foreign debt, whereas the indirect obligations amount to 953m EUR.

The public debt at the end of year 2000 amounted to 14.2 billion USD.