Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said on Wednesday that Serbia is far from a recession despite current challenges.

“Every macro-economic indicator is completely stable. Our public debt is at 52.1 percent of the GDP far below the European Union standard of 60 percent, unemployment is between 10 and 11 percent at pre-crisis levels, this year’s deficit will be 3 percent because VAT income is much better than expected. Growth in the first quarter of the year was 4.3 percent and growth of 3.7 percent is expected in the second quarter,” the Finance Minister told a conference on the Serbian economy at the Chamber of Commerce (PKS).

The conference was organized by the PKS, Embassy of Germany, German-Serbian initiative for sustainable growth and employment and GIZ.

He said that the world faces a possible recession because of the coronavirus pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine with high inflation and higher unemployment. According to Mali, the government introduced a number of measures such as fuel price control, a freeze on power prices, the lowest gas prices in Europe and limits on food prices along with aid to pensioners, education and health care staff and young people aged 16 to 29.

The minister said that the Serbian authorities are fully committed to continue reforms. “The reform of the Tax Authority is going as planned, we have the money for all the investments we launched,” he said.