In supporting the liquidity of the economy, the government should focus on those companies that will most quickly contribute to the overall economic recovery (production, food, tourism...), to reduce the outflow of money outside the country, and to prioritize payers who are on the white tax list, and not those tax debtors who do not respect the adopted reprograms or are on the black list, assessed the Association of Managers of Montenegro (AMM).
President of AMM Budimir Raickovic sent their 20 new recommendations to the prime minister yesterday Duško Marković for overcoming the economic crisis due to the coronavirus.
As of Tuesday, the competent departments of the executive authorities did not officially respond to "News" when the proposal for the third package of measures can be expected and whether it will be coordinated with all partners. The initial announcements were that it would be determined by the middle of May, so the deadline was moved to the beginning of June.
Raičković believes that the situation in the economy indicates the beginning of an economic crisis of strong proportions, and the sooner we face the problems, the more likely it is to lessen the inevitable consequences.
"We expect the third set of measures to have a longer-term, i.e. strategic character, as well as a clear separation of measures to repair the economy and measures aimed at the socially vulnerable. Although the crisis was not caused by economic reasons, it can be seen as an opportunity to face the doubts that are present to a greater or lesser extent, such as a high level of public spending, pronounced import dependence, various business barriers, the gray economy, and the slowness of the administration, mainly at the local level. level and an insufficiently stimulating environment for entrepreneurship. This situation can be an opportunity to efficiently and systematically solve these issues. We hope that this approach could be one of the starting points in the creation of the third set of measures, as well as all subsequent ones, because the development of the situation will impose on us the improvement of the adopted measures", Raičković told "Vijesta".
To ask the economics profession
He said that any reasons and indecision should not be allowed to slow down and stifle the return of the economy to its maximum possible function.
"In dealing with the health crisis, doctors - the profession had the main say. That model should also be applied when it comes to solving the economic crisis. When adopting short-term and long-term measures, the Government should uncompromisingly, to the maximum extent possible, avoid the influence of politics and listen to the economic profession and practice in making its decisions", he added.
They also insist that the Government form a National Strategic Team, which will design and improve measures of support, recovery and development of the economy, through the involvement of relevant institutions and organizations, and especially representatives of the real sector.
AMM recommends that the bank's vitality be preserved from the moratorium on loans for everyone, and the Central Bank has announced that the continuation will only be for financially vulnerable citizens. The Association states that the moratorium should be approved only for citizens who have lost their jobs or whose earnings have been significantly reduced, as well as for companies that are prohibited from performing their activities or work in difficult conditions, which is proven by monthly balance sheets that determine the decline in income and turnover.
They emphasize that it should not be expected that all banks can offer a large number of long-term favorable loans from short-term deposits of current clients. They suggest making an arrangement of commercial banks with the Investment and Development Fund, where the state would be the guarantor of IRF's borrowing from the European Investment Bank (and others) for a period of 10 years, and the banks would agree loans with end users.
Domestic IT know-how, "digital coalition", crisis quotas for imports
Raičković believes that it is necessary to consider an applicable model of guarantee schemes for the economy, which would be covered by collaterals to the greatest extent, because in a period of increased risk it is not realistic to expect banks to take on that risk.
Raičković's position is that the problems of capacity and speed of the administration would be solved by turning to the domestic IT sector, which these days has shown that there are enough expert people who can offer quality solutions, but also give priority to accelerated digital transformation.
"The economy and citizens should complete all their needs in one place and through online channels, with the recognition of electronic documents in business. Now is the right time to realize the initiative of the Chamber of Commerce and AMM to form a "digital coalition", added Raičković.
He indicates that the support and protection of domestic production should be continued and that in the period of the economic crisis, the possibility of introducing crisis import quantity quotas of certain food and other products offered by domestic producers should be considered.
"In this way, a larger space for the placement of Montenegrin products would be opened up, which would be effected by capacity utilization, employment of additional workforce, greater purchase, processing and of course reduction of dependence on imports, i.e. reduction of trade deficit", emphasized Raičković.
PKCG: More favorable loans
The Chamber of Commerce (PKCG) expects the third package of measures to be focused on development, in order to mitigate the consequences of the epidemic this year and to create conditions for reaching the growth rates of previous years as soon as possible.
"This package should include the restructuring of existing loans, with the provision of a grace period, lower interest rates and loan processing costs, and new loans for permanent working capital. In order to further attract investors and continue the investment activities from the previous period, we consider it necessary to create favorable investment loans for new and the realization of started investments", they told "Vijesta" in PKCG.
In that organization, they believe that investments from the capital budget of the state, that is, the municipality, should be realized in full capacity in order to start economic activities and recover the economy in the shortest possible period. "We expect that special measures to support the tourism industry will be created within this package, so that this sector, which is extremely important for the Montenegrin economy, functions smoothly and achieves the best possible results," PKCG said.
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