Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic stated on Monday that the Serbian government is carefully drafting the 2012 budget, which will include the reduction of fiscal deficit from the current 4.5 per cent to 3.9 per cent of the country's GDP and the planned economic growth at 3 per cent.

During the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Postal Savings Bank, Cvetkovic said that the government would respect the legally defined limit of indebtedness in the drafting of the 2012 economic policy.

When it comes to various criticisms as regards excessive public consumption and uncontrolled public debt growth, Cvetkovic said that Serbia's public finance is under control, in keeping with the law and agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

According to Cvetkovic, the recently adopted budget review clearly indicates that there has been no uncontrolled growth of public expenditures this year and that the real problem lies in the fact that budget revenues were lower, primarily due to the slower pace of economic activity.

All legal obligations regarding pensions and salaries in the public sector have been observed and social benefits for most vulnerable groups have increased, Cvetkovic said and underscored that no important infrastructure project was stopped nor were subsidies for the agriculture sector reduced.

The prime minister said that main cornerstones of the 2012 economic policy would comprise the expected GDP of 2 per cent by the end of the year, industrial production growth of 3 per cent and good results in agricultural production.