Industrial production in Serbia is currently 20 per cent lower than in summer 2008, which shows that the country has not exited the crisis yet, and the appreciation of the dinar is exerting a negative influence on foreign exchange, chief editor of the 'Macroeconomic Analysis and Trends' (MAT TM) magazine Vladimir Vuckovic stated on Tuesday.

At the presentation of the latest edition of the magazine, Vuckovic said that indicators of main economic developments in April were unfavourable and that industrial production dropped by 1.2 per cent, while processing industry dropped by as much as 1.5 per cent compared to March.

Vuckovic underscored that the most significant drop was recorded in the area of food industry.

Reflecting on the results achieved in the domain of foreign exchange, he said that the country's imports continued to increase but exports did not follow suit, and added that the foreign exchange deficit continued to rise.

Vuckovic noted that this indicates the appreciation of the Serbian dinar is exerting a negative influence on foreign exchange.

He added that the measures of economic policy implemented this year are only short-term and boil down to an attempt of immediate improvement in the position of citizens most stricken by salary cuts and consumption, which were caused by high inflation rates.