Workers will receive several thousand more dinars and their wages and pensions will increase

Siniša Mali, Photo: Tanjug / Zoran Žestić

“This is the fifth year in a row that we are increasing salaries in the public sector, and now we are doing it according to the IMF. This year we are not going to have as big a salary increase as last year, but it will be significant, so that all employees will be able to feel in their wallet where they will have a few thousand more dinars, “said Mali.

“With the exact percentages of salary increases, we will soon go public. On the other hand, we have increased the minimum wage by 6.6 percent and pensions by 5.9 percent. The average salary is currently 511 euros, and in the spring of next year it could reach 540. The goal is for the average salary to be 900 euros in 2025, and the average pension 440 euros “, he points out Mali.

Do they criticize you that the increases do not have a real basis?

They also have it thanks to good financial results. Last year, our GDP reached 45.9 billion euros and grew by 4.2 percent. With such a heated locomotive of economic development, we entered early this year and in the first quarter we had 5 percent growth, which was the best result in Europe. Then a pandemic occurred and led us to new economic challenges.

I think we have overcome them successfully, so we hope to be among the most successful economies in Europe by the end of the year; our official economic growth projection is -1%, but we believe that we can be at zero. This opens up room for us to increase wages because our expectations are that next year’s GDP growth will be between 5 and 6 percent.

Will doctors get higher wage growth than the rest of the public sector?

The exact percentages of the salary increases will be known soon. At the same time, it is clear that pandemic health care is the most burdened part of public services throughout the world, including in our country. That is why we increased the wages of medical workers by 10% at the beginning of the pandemic. Working conditions are also important, which is why we have tried and will continue to try to raise those standards to an even higher level by renovating the healthcare infrastructure and clinical centers.

Are you afraid of the new wave of the crown? Do you expect new problems for the economy?

There is no finance minister, economic strategist or analyst who is not afraid of the crown. That fear is exclusively associated with economic uncertainty. However, considering that the crown really surprised us last year, and that we did great, I think we are definitely more prepared now. We had an excellent and comprehensive package of support measures of € 5.8 billion. That also affected our good results, so I really believe that we are entering the next year with a good start.

We should see the pandemic as one more constant in our economic system. The task of us, as well as the representatives of the economy, is to start thinking differently, to conquer new markets and new economic spaces in a penetrating and innovative way. The sooner we start thinking outside the box, the faster we will get through this crisis.

Is the state considering new financial aid?

We will be ready to react if the need arises for a new kind of support. We monitor the evolution of the economy and the markets in our country and in the world on a daily basis, we observe what others are doing and we will react accordingly. I remind you that our package of measures is still being implemented, the loans are still in force and we have just paid financial subsidies for more than 300 hoteliers, which is equivalent to a total of 1.2 billion dinars.

I am glad that next year we will start working on a new guarantee scheme with the American International Development Corporation, so that entrepreneurs have at their disposal this additional support for liquidity, but also for their perhaps new investments. It is important that the dynamics of economic activity have recovered significantly in recent months as a result of the gradual “unlocking of the economy”. It is important that the economy does not shut down.

The aid to citizens of 100 euros each was criticized and praised. How realistic is it to repeat it in 2021?

It was an extremely important and economically justified measure for several reasons. In that way, we incentivized spending, got more revenue in the budget than we projected, helped our citizens when they needed it most, and significantly raised their optimism. Although some have criticized our move, we have recently received confirmation even from the International Labor Organization that it was an economically justified decision. Of course, it was a huge expense for us, and that’s why I can’t be irresponsible and make promises right now, when there is still a lot of uncertainty. However, I do not rule out new aid for citizens and the economy.

He will also be the Minister of Finance in the new government. How much did you want that

It is an honor for me to have the opportunity to lead the finance department of the new government, at a time when our country faces many challenges. I think it will be a good, quality team that will work together on the same task. As much as President Vučić announced, the new government will have six important goals in front of it, and the sixth goal is the economy.

Now you are fighting the black economy with a prize game, but are you also preparing new measures?

The “Take the Bill and Win 2020” prize game is part of our comprehensive fight against the black economy. To date, citizens have sent more than 65,000 envelopes. I invite you to participate as much as possible and I call on you to ask for a fiscal account, because in that way part of the money is returned to the budget, which is redistributed even more for education, health, culture, science.

The systemic solution in our fight against the underground economy is the adoption of the new Fiscalization Law, which will soon be pending in parliament. In this way, a more efficient control of taxpayers will be made possible, as well as better tax collection.

The bill will stipulate that at the time of retail trade, each invoice is audited and that the tax invoice data issued in real time is transferred to the Tax Administration. Likewise, it is expected that product buyers, that is, service users, can check whether their tax invoice has been issued in accordance with the law, immediately after the issuance of the tax invoice.