BELGRADE : Yugoslavia’s Mystery Plan

Prime Minister Ante Markovic is expected to reveal Stage Two of his sweeping reform plan this week, lifting the veil on one of the region’s best kept secrets.

Having already tamed four-digit inflation, made the once-ridiculed dinar fully convertible with Western currencies, and announced plans for multi-party federal elections later this year, the government will now invoke tough measures to shut down unprofitable state-owned factories and trim staffs in others, analysts speculate.

That means more people out of work on top of the 17% already unemployed, but Markovic’s supporters contend they’ll soften the blow with programs to help the jobless open new private enterprises, helping to alleviate shortages of consumer goods in the process.