The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) thinks the agricultural production meant for export that requires little processing should not be subsidized, because that sends Serbian taxpayers' money to exporters and foreign consumers, NBS Governor Dejan Soskic said Sunday.

Soskic told Tanjug that the export of those products reduced the home market supply, causing price increases in recent months.

"This caused the NBS to point out to the government more than once the need to rationalize subsidies, trade privileges and strategic reserves interventions, as well as make them more efficient," Soskic noted.

The main goal regarding these improvements in agricultural policy should be to stabilize food prices in the medium and long run, he added.

"The budget subsidies should target direct users and that could benefit domestic farmers, consumers and the food industry," he stressed.

According to him, the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages account for 37.8 percent of the total consumer price index, which is an indicator of the inflation and therefore makes these measures very important.