Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic calls for support for dinar

Belgrade, March 02, 2010, (Serbia Today) – Prime Minister of Serbia Mirko Cvetkovic said that the state must support the domestic currency. He said that the decision for the state subsidizing credit in Euros should be reassessed and that the state should “turn towards packages from business banks that are meant for crediting in dinars.” Cvetković told Belgrade daily Večernje Novosti that the citizens will have more trust in the domestic currency when inflation is not six, but two percent. “The decrease in the value of the dinar is felt most with citizens who are indebted in Euros and getting paid in dinars, and their buying power decreases,” he said. Cvetković said that there could be increases in wages in the public sector in some percentage or one-time payments in the second half of the year “if significant economic growth is achieved.” He said that “in the next several years, the cost of pensions will be about 10 percent of the BDP, as it was agreed with the IMF.” The prime minister said that the government has chosen to harmonize pensions with the growth of wages in the public sector over the next 18 months, stating that this period is enough time to take care of the consequences of “the two-year status of frozen pensions.” He said that while he worked in the Privatization Agency, he never heard the names that are being mentioned now in cases of alleged abuses in privatization processes, and that his stance is clear on that because he has initiated several processes against such people who abuse privatization procedures since he became the prime minister. Cvetković said that he does not believe that the privatization of Jat Airways will be completed this year, but that the government will be speaking with air travel companies and investors who have a clear investment plan for the company and will decide on what companies could be good strategic partners.