Presentation of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Igor Lukšić, PhD, at Milocer Development Forum

Rregardless the fact that our expectations are that the economy reaches the growth level of minus three up to minus four percent at the end of the year, we can hope for the mild growth in the next year by employing certain measures. The growth of Montenegrin economy following the crises will be of great effort, long and gradual, because the forecasts and growth prognoses were corrected on several occasions aimed at decline. Now we are thinking more about the chances and abandoning the dangers of the crises. In the meantime, we have made the budget rebalance balancing the consumption, we are recording the increase in foreign direct investment, and the stabilization of the total circumstance was influenced by the transaction with the EPCG. Due to aforementioned, it shouldnt be expected the further fall of the economy. Montenegro is now facing with several challenged, first of all the additional decrease in budgetary consumption which the Government in the following year will decreased by additional three percent to 35% of GDP. It is necessary to further redefine the labor marker by applying new Labor Law and amendments to the current or adoption of the new Collective Agreement. This is a serious task if we want that our system is fully sustainable. A long term challenge is further improvement of the business environment that should be freed from barriers and obstacles. The state should deal with the social policy, and the economy must satisfy the consumer interests. Only active, additionally liberalized economy and open economy is able to generate the surge in the economy growth. By the end of last and at the beginning of this year, there were many advocates of the theory that Montenegro should enter the arrangement with the IMF. I resisted this idea as some others and I think that the time had shown that we were right. In that period the crises also persisted in the IMF and in my opinion the arrangement, i.e. the measures and recommendations of the IMF, in that period would only deepened the crises. In the meantime both in internal and in the external plan the situation have changed and I do not see any major problems or any negative effects if Montenegro would opt for entering the arrangement with the IMF