20 November 2018 - Prime Minister Duško Marković expressed satisfaction with the results that the Government has achieved in the first half of its mandate, adding that the Government will continue this way in the upcoming period.
At the meeting of the Foreign Investors Council in Podgorica, the Prime Minister emphasised that all of Montenegro picked up the momentum that leads to prosperity and the future. Public finances are stabilized, we have macroeconomic stability, and investment activity has increased. The achieved economic growth rates of 4.8% in the first half of the year are among the highest in the region and in Europe – the Prime Minister said.
Recalling the unfavourable conditions in which the 41st Government of Montenegro began its mandate – the high budget deficit and public debt, unfavourable regional and wider environment – the Prime Minister said that the success was not likely to happen.
He said that when he took over as the Prime Minister, there were more reasons to believe we won’t succeed to overcome problems, but we managed. We provided a positive trend, we took the opportunity given to us and responded seriously to all the challenges.
Prime Minister Marković referred to progress in the field of European integrations and added that in December we will have a total of 32 open chapters because we have received information that Chapter 27 on environmental protection will be opened in December. He also pointed out the fact that as a NATO member we have shown that we are able to fulfill the Alliance's obligations.
Montenegro, PM Marković noted, is an exporter of overall stability.
The Prime Minister said that the Government's policies resulted in high economic growth, adding that the growth estimates for 2018 cannot be below 4.1%.
PM Marković emphasised that foreign direct investments, which increased in the first nine months of this year by 48% compared to the same period last year, and the creation of new jobs also represent a successful result.
"These achievements of the Government's work have resulted in the creation of 9,000 jobs. Until recently, we couldn't speak about the creation of new jobs at all, not to mention this number of new jobs. This is a fantastic result. This is a decrease in the unemployment rate of 4% according to the Employment Agency of Montenegro, which is not very reliable because it contains data that do not give a real picture, and a decrease of 4.6% in the unemployment rate according to the survey. Now, unemployment is at the level of 14.4%, and in December 2017, it was over 21%, according to both records," Prime Minister Marković noted.
The Prime Minister said that the Government will continue to work in the same way in the following period: "I want to continue with such results," PM Marković said, adding that the next year's budget will be developmental.
The Prime Minister said that the Government would persevere in order to adopt the Law on Fiscalization in the trade of goods and services, but it will consider all the objections coming from stakeholders. He thanked for understanding and support expressed by the Foreign Investors Council towards this legal solution. He added that he expects the law to become effective next year, while its full implementation is foreseen for 2021.
Commenting on the country's decline in the Doing Business list, PM Marković said that in the previous period we had adopted laws that should improve the business, facilitate business and eliminate barriers. However, he said that the problem is likely in the implementation of the law and that it must be solved.
In that context, the Law on Spatial Planning and Building Construction has been mentioned, whose effects are still being examined.
"I still do not see what I expected and I was told that we will get a new law. They warn me that wild construction is growing, that we have few inspections, that the plans are being adopted slower than before," the Prime Minister concluded.
