Vucic promises cash for citizens by September 15
In Jadranska Lesnica, the president said a package of aid measures would be paid out by September 15 and cited an IMF forecast on Serbia's growth, while the opposition calls it pre-election spending.
- Vucic says a package of measures will be paid out by September 15, possibly by September 10.
- Pensioners, war veterans and the socially vulnerable come first, with a promise of serious money for the oldest.
- He cited an IMF forecast: Serbia number 1 in Europe next year, among the 5 fastest-growing over the next five years.
- An earlier package for all adult citizens is estimated at around 600 million euros.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday, July 12, in Jadranska Lesnica near Loznica, that he expects a new package of aid measures to be paid out no later than September 15, and that he hopes the money could arrive as early as September 10. He delivered the message during a visit to the Todorovic family, in front of a crowd of local residents.
Vucic specified that the package is aimed first at pensioners, war veterans and socially vulnerable groups, with what he called serious money for the oldest citizens. The state can afford such measures, he argued, because it has managed public funds prudently over the past years.
What the package actually promises
Earlier announcements of aid for all adult citizens were confirmed by Finance Minister Sinisa Mali and the top of government, with an estimate that the total value of the package could reach around 600 million euros. According to the announcements so far, these would be one-off payments covering a broad range of recipients, not only selected categories of the population.
At the same time, the president relayed a forecast from the International Monetary Fund. Under that assessment, over the next five years Serbia will be among the five fastest-growing economies in Europe, while as early as next year, as he quoted the fund, it could be number one on the continent by growth rate. Vucic presented those figures as proof that, in his reading, public finances can absorb additional spending.
In the government’s account, the two messages travel together: economic growth creates room for aid, and aid is directed where the president judges it is needed most. Critics, however, read the same set of messages very differently.
Is this policy or a campaign?
A number of economists and opposition figures warn that announcing one-off payments right before an election cycle looks, above all, like pre-election money distribution. On that reading, the timing of the payout, mid-September, and the choice of the categories with the highest turnout, pensioners first of all, is no accident.
The authorities reject such assessments and insist the measures follow from fiscal results rather than the calendar. In the corridors, though, people are already calculating how much a package of roughly 600 million euros will be worth in the weeks before the vote, and how far the opposition can turn the subject into a question about where the money comes from and what it is for.
So the same announcement is read two ways. For some it is proof that the state knows how to reward those who, as the president says, have waited longest. For others it is a campaign stake paid from the budget. It remains to be seen how citizens will weigh that difference once the money actually lands in their accounts, and do you see this as social policy or a move before the vote?
