Serbia’s revised budget directs more money to investment and public support

Serbia’s parliament has approved a revised budget that the Finance Ministry says will channel additional resources into investment and support for citizens. The plan covers capital projects, health care, education, agriculture and social protection.

The revised allocations include 25 billion dinars for the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs. The Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces are assigned 315.9 billion dinars, equivalent to 2.8% of GDP. Health funding increases by 28.3 billion dinars, while agriculture receives 154.1 billion dinars, or 7.3% of the total budget.

Capital investment remains a central feature of the plan. Public-sector capital spending is set at 779.9 billion dinars, or 7% of GDP, about 42.5 billion dinars above the original budget. The listed projects include Expo 2027, the National Stadium, the Belgrade metro, several highway corridors and railway projects.

The ministry said the revision rests on higher-than-planned revenues and aims to support growth while maintaining macroeconomic stability and a moderate debt level. It raised the projected economic growth rate for the year from 3% to 3.3%, after growth reached 3.4% in the first half. Central-government debt is projected at 43.8% of GDP at the end of the year.

The projects named in the budget include the Fruška Gora, Morava and Danube corridors, the Belgrade-Sarajevo highway, the Belgrade-Zrenjanin-Novi Sad highway, the northern bypass around Kragujevac and a bridge near Bačka Palanka.

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Capital investment has remained one of the main drivers of growth.