Ćulibrk on economic measures: It's a pre-election package, votes have become the most expensive in Serbia

Milan Ćulibrk, editor of the weekly Radar, has sharply criticized the economic measures announced by the Serbian President, labeling them a "pre-election package" designed to secure votes. He specifically pointed to the one-time payments for pensioners and youth, stating that "votes have become the most expensive in Serbia." Ćulibrk drew a parallel to the year 2000, when a vote was valued at 100 euros, contrasting it with the current situation where a vote is worth nearly 300 euros.

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If we remember the year 2000, one vote was worth 100 euros, and now we have come to the point where it is worth almost 300 euros. This is neither an economic nor a social, this is a pre-election package.

Ćulibrk argued that these measures are not driven by economic or social concerns but are purely political. He noted the absence of benefits for young people in the current package, suggesting the president believes young voters are not reliably on his side and cannot be easily swayed by monetary incentives. Instead, the focus on pensioners is seen as a more predictable way to attract votes.

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This would be a wasted investment for him, money thrown away for the authorities. This way, it is calculated that some votes will still be attracted with this help.

He expressed concern that the government has fostered a mentality where citizens expect to be bought, and those who cannot be bought are intimidated or coerced. While acknowledging that the payments might offer a temporary boost to living standards, Ćulibrk calculated that the annual impact of these one-time payments is minimal, highlighting the low baseline of the current standard of living.

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If you pay someone 20-35,000 dinars once, when you divide it on an annual level, it amounts to between 1,700 and 3,000 dinars per month. If that is a measure of raising standards, it proves how low our standard is.

Furthermore, Ćulibrk warned about the financial implications of these unbudgeted measures, which he estimates will cost around 600 million euros. He anticipates that the government will need to revise the budget and resort to further borrowing, with citizens ultimately bearing the cost of repaying these loans with interest. He described the situation as "shuffling from an empty to a full pocket," creating an illusion of benefit for citizens while increasing the national debt.

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If there is no money in the state treasury, and there won't be, because these measures were not planned in the Budget Law. The budget will have to be rebalanced, because it is 600 million euros that were not planned. It will be provided by additional state borrowing. We repay that debt, with interest.