Citizens do not have time to wait for Serbia 2020; they need a better life in Serbia 2011.
It seems that in Serbia it has become normal for each New Year to be tougher than the last. But it wasn’t always so. Until just two years ago we had a steady growth and we knew in which direction the state was heading. The government may seek justification for the poor situation of the country in the global crisis, global warming, or on some other global grounds, but no one can deny the fact that two years ago people were living much better in Serbia. Today you won’t find a man, no matter which party he votes for, who will tell you that he lives well. And it has little to do with the eternal dissatisfaction of the average Serb, but has to do with the situation in his wallet, and the stunts he must pull off to pay the bills and monthly groceries.
It isn’t easy to be in government anywhere, even in Serbia. Our country has a lot of inherited problems and it will probably take generations of politicians to solve all these problems. But the task of a government is to at least try and solve these problems, rather than like an ostrich stick their heads in the sand, waiting for a better tomorrow in the European Union. With their behavior, this Government is reminiscent of a man who prayed to God every week to win the lottery. ”Please God, let me win the lottery,” asked the man for years. Finally God appeared to him and said, “Buy a lottery ticket man! No one will solve our problems if we don’t solve them ourselves.
Today you won’t find a man, no matter which party he votes for, who will tell you that he lives well. And it has little to do with the eternal dissatisfaction of the average Serb, but has to do with the situation in his wallet, and the stunts he must pull off to pay the bills and monthly groceries.
1. The decline of the domestic economy – Serbia has over 70 thousand enterprises that have been blocked. When this government took office, RSD 65 billion was allocated for investments into Serbia which is now 31 billion. Once the subsidies for agriculture were RSD24 billion (with the Euro under RSD80), and now they barely reach 20 billion (when the Euro is RSD110). For agriculture we are allocating less than EUR200 million while a country like Croatia, which has three times less arable land, allocates EUR400 million. This is not a way to help the economy.
2. Unemployment - Serbia has the lowest employment rate in Europe. According to official data, over 700 thousand people are unemployed. And according to unofficial data, rare are families in Serbia in which at least one member hasn’t lost his job over the past two years. We cannot talk about increasing employment in Serbia if you do not invest in the development of domestic economy.
3. Lowest average salary in the region - this year will be remembered by the people by the fact that today, the first time since World War II; the average salary in Serbia is lower than in Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and even Albania. The average salary in 2008 was EUR430 to EUR310 today.
4. Increase in public debt - For the term of this government, public debt rose from EUR9.5 to 11.62 billion and from 25.6 to 38 percent of the GDP. How much the debt is a burden for Serbia can be seen in the budget for 2011 where for the first time almost twice as much money is being spent on interest repayments (45 billion) and the loan base (34 billion) than to help the local economy (55 billion)?
The task of a government is to at least try and solve these problems, rather than like an ostrich stick their heads in the sand, waiting for a better tomorrow in the European Union. With their behavior, this Government is reminiscent of a man who prayed to God every week to win the lottery. “Please God, let me win the lottery,” asked the man for years. Finally God appeared to him and said, “Buy a lottery ticket man! No one will solve our problems if we don’t solve them ourselves.
5. Budget deficit - We have a deficit in the budget of RSD120 billion. When this government took over running the country, the budget deficit was RSD14 billion, and it is now nine times higher. The total deficit for the four-year term of this government, if we assume that it will not increase next year, will amount to around RSD390 billion, or about EUR4 billion. This is enough money to build Corridor 10, three power plants or twenty bridges in Serbia. To be sure, a shortage invested in economic development, infrastructure and job creation, can be justified, and many developed countries have it. But what the current government is doing, aiming the deficit exclusively on spending, not leaving any lasting value to the state or citizens, is the ultimate indifference to the period after its term.
6. Independence in economic policy management – when you add up all the allocations of the state that were created under the auspices of the IMF and the banks, we come to a figure of RSD600 billion, or about 70 percent of the budget of the Republic of Serbia whose structure depends more on others than of the government’s decisions. Responsible governments know that the preservation of financial independence is a bulwark for preserving political independence. That is why during the term of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica the agreement with the IMF ended early and a debt of EUR 960 million was repaid.
7. Sale of Telecom - The government will not deviate from the policy “after us, a flood” and its intent to finance the huge budget deficit with the sale of Telecom. No one believes anymore that the government is selling Telecom to build roads, because roads can be built through concessions, as has been done by almost all countries in Europe. The state does not need to sell Telekom because it is a strategically important resource for the development of infrastructure and economy in Serbia. Engineers in Serbia are our competitive edge over the world and we must invest in our professionals, rather than sell off companies in which they should find a job tomorrow.
The task of a government is to provide projections of a better life and standard of the citizens in the tenth year of its mandate. Its task now is to make citizens’ lives better. And that can only be done if more concern is put into the domestic economy and the lives of ordinary people in Serbia, rather than thinking about the European Union, amending the Constitution and other matters on the long run that may or may not happen in the next 15 years.
8. Inflation - Nobel laureate Milton Friedman said that “inflation is the only tax for which you do not need a law.” Inflation is a tax paid by all citizens. Serbia has the highest inflation in the region which is felt by all our citizens when at the beginning of the month they receive a salary with which it is becoming increasingly difficult to pay the bills and stay fed for another 30 days. From the growth in inflation people who used to pay back the loans with 30 percent of their earnings, are today barely paying them with 50 percent.
I believe I listed enough problems that need to be dealt with today. The task of a government is to provide projections of a better life and standard of the citizens in the tenth year of its mandate. Its task now is to make citizens’ lives better. And that can only be done if more concern is put into the domestic economy and the lives of ordinary people in Serbia, rather than thinking about the European Union, amending the Constitution and other matters on the long run that may or may not happen in the next 15 years.
Citizens do not have time to wait for Serbia 2020; they need a better life in Serbia 2011.
The article published in the weekly Vreme
