Serbia will not change its tax rates during the crisis, Deputy Prime Minister for European integration Bozidar Djelic said Thursday, announcing the country will carry out further reforms by passing legislation harmonized with the EU.

At a panel discussion held following the presentation of the Foreign Investors Council's White Book, Djelic said Serbia did not raise taxes during the last crisis, especially not VAT, like some other European countries, and noted tax rates will stay the same as long as the Eurozone debt crisis persists.

Djelic reminded the government abolished some taxes during the last wave of the crisis, such as the savings tax, while it halved the profit from financial transactions.

Commenting on the recommendations and objections in the White Book, the deputy prime minister agreed there have been problems with implementation of laws, noting that the incumbent and future governments should continue regulation reforms and keep cutting administrative and bureaucratic obstacles.

As an illustration of the problems the government has faced in the reform process, Djelic said the government has been trying to introduce a unified information system in the pension and disability insurance service, but has met with resistance from people afraid of losing their jobs.