Professor of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade and former governor of the National Bank of Serbia Dejan Šoškić, guest on the show N1 Direct, stated that the process around NIS is unclear and non-transparent and that Since 2014, Serbia has had to engage more with NIS-a, when he was under the threat of sanctions for the first time.
"When viewed from a distance, it seems to me like some frivolous activity of the state. I think we had to have a clear position back in 2014, that we had a significant company that could potentially be the subject of sanctions. That was the first time sanctions were introduced against Russia, and from 2022 we absolutely had to work on it intensively. We had strong arguments to negotiate with a foreign partner to find some solution so that NIS can continue to work normally and be displaced from the risk of sanctions and some kind of endangerment," he pointed out. is Soškić.
Non-competitive production
The number of employees in Serbia is decreasing compared to previous years. Compared to the first quarter of last year, there are 8.090 fewer employees, according to the data of the Republic Institute of Statistics. The cause of the drop in employment is the mass closing of factories.
"Factories that were brought in with subsidies that we paid with cash from the budget are closing. Several years ago I said that there would be a withdrawal of foreign investments and a reduction in the export potential of our country. Official statistics now show this. Our trade deficit and balance of payments deficit are not decreasing, our foreign direct investments were significantly less than planned. Our GDP also slowed down, from four to two percent. This is all the expected consequence of completely illogical and unprofessional management of macroeconomic policy in our country", said the professor of the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.
Shutting down export potential
He explains that if Serbia opts for a fixed exchange rate and if at the same time there is an increase in wages without an increase in productivity, there is an increase in labor costs and Serbian production becomes less competitive, i.e. more expensive compared to foreign ones, which extinguishes export potential.
Because there is no country that has developed economically without relying on domestic private investments, while those in Serbia are among the lowest. The reason for this is the unfavorable economic environment.
Speaking about the current economic situation in Serbia, Šoškić says that the country is in a worrying phase.
The key things in the national economy are agriculture and energy. They are not protected, nor are they being developed adequately. U In recent years, the energy industry has seen bad consequences due to bad management, and in agriculture, we have come to the point where everything and anything is being imported, and our farmers are wasting their products," Šoškić said.
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