Serbian parliament endorses 2010 budget bill

22/12/2009

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Parliament passed the 2010 budget bill Monday (December 21st), thus meeting all conditions set by the IMF for the disbursement of the next tranche under a 2.9 billion-euro loan. The government got the support of two independent members and one ethnic Albanian member after one of its coalition partners, the Vojvodina Hungarians' Union (SVM), withdrew its support, insisting there was not enough money in the budget for capital investments in Vojvodina. The SVM's decision will lead to a review of relations with that party, said Oliver Dulic, of the senior coalition ally Democratic Party. He said the government must know how many lawmakers it can rely on in parliament. The opposition meanwhile, refused to participate in the vote. (RTS, Beta, B92, Tanjug - 21/12/09)