Mali: Serbia is making a new deal with the Americans

Today, Finance Minister Siniša Mali met with the director of the newly opened office of the American Development Finance Corporation (DFC), John Jovanović, with whom he discussed the launch of a new guarantee scheme, which will help small and medium-sized enterprises in Serbia.

“Today’s conversation laid the foundations for a new credit guarantee scheme that we are negotiating with the American International Development Finance Corporation. I am convinced that we will create favorable conditions for our entrepreneurs and DFC will be the guarantor of the loans taken from banks in Serbia to the greatest extent possible. In the previous guarantee scheme, the guarantor of the repayment of these loans, in case of problems in repayment, was the state of Serbia, “Mali explained.

According to him, the very fact that the DFC is considering this option, and the fact that it is on the table in general, is proof that there is confidence in the US administration in Serbia’s economic policy and therefore assume This type of economic risk is not a big problem for the United States. investors.

“The previous guarantee scheme has justified all our expectations. Entrepreneurs have two billion euros at their disposal in the banks, of which they have already used just over half of the funds, that is, about 1.3 billion euros. “Of that money, about 10 percent went to refinance existing loans, while 90 percent are borrowed loans, but I am glad that they are not just loans for liquidity but also for investments,” Mali said.
According to him, the companies received additional monetary boost and liquidity, and what they had was that this money was used in a correct and functional way.

The Minister recalled that the first agreed guarantee scheme ends at the end of this year, and that the new one, agreed with DFC, could come to life early next year, so that entrepreneurs have a little more time for planning and implementation. of the business.

“Taking into account the general economic uncertainty in the world, it is very important that we provide stable sources of financing, but above all cheaper, in the market to economic entities.” In addition, it is important for us that companies have a choice, that is, that they choose for themselves what is best for them in the market. That is why the most diverse sources of financing are more important. This competitiveness of funding sources can provide significantly lower interest rates, which is our goal for all of us. Therefore, we will work intensively on the development of other financial instruments that can finance the growth of companies operating in Serbia ”, said Mali, expressing the expectation that the future is not far off when companies finance their development with their own funds. .

According to him, that is not realistic now, because there is not enough internal capital accumulation, but the state will do everything possible to create that capital because it is the only guarantor of job creation and economic growth. Mali said that on the other hand, the state will create digital and road infrastructure with its public investments, all with the aim of making that work even easier for entrepreneurs.

According to him, our macroeconomic indicators are good for now and show that we are doing well in the health crisis.

“We have low and stable inflation, which we maintain below two percent, a safe level of foreign exchange reserves, a healthy banking and financial system, balanced state finances, and a labor market that has not experienced major turmoil and layoffs. DFC recognizes all this, as well as the potential of Serbia when it comes to the development of the small and medium-sized business sector. That is why the meeting focused on investing in women’s entrepreneurship and promoting startups, which would also be a segment of the guarantee scheme ”, said Mali.

He points out that there are still many details to be agreed and discussed with the banks on this issue.

“We are on the right track and I believe that soon we will make our businessmen happy and surprise them with good news, but not only with the guarantee scheme, but also with other government public policies that we want to encourage entrepreneurship. “We hope to be among the three countries in Europe that have the best results this year in terms of the GDP rate, and this guarantee scheme will further contribute to economic growth next year,” Mali concluded.