The Serbian government on Thursday adopted a program of measures worth 1.69 billion U.S. dollars to ease the effects of the global economic crisis and ensure a 3.5 percent economic growth rate.

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic told a press conference that 122 billion dinars (1.69 billion dollars) would be secured to increase production and exports, as well as boost the economy's liquidity and the purchasing power of the population.

He said 40 billion dinars (556 million dollars) had been earmarked to boost the liquidity of the economy via commercial banks with the state subsidizing their interest rates.

About 17 billion dinars (235 million dollars) would be secured with the participation of the Development Fund and the Guarantee Fund, he said.

According to the premier, 20 billion dinars (278 million dollars) are intended for consumer loans to enable the purchase of domestic consumer goods.

The remaining 45 billion dinars (625 million dollars) are foreign loans for financing small and medium-sized firms, he said.

The government will determine the economic priorities and sectors which would receive these loans, and the Serbian central bank will set the criteria for selecting commercial banks that would service these loans, Cvetkovic said.

Analysts said the effect of the global economic crisis in Serbia is mostly being felt in the fields of investment and transportation, followed by the construction industry.

On Thursday, Vidosava Dzagic, vice-president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, told a conference on consumer and crisis that the influence of the crisis was first felt last July when production dropped.

Last November, exports were down 23 percent compared with October. Direct foreign investment inflows decreased, as did ongoing investments. Interest in privatization also suffered a major setback.

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2009)