Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic has announced more than €600mn in salary increases, pension rises, one-off cash payments and tourism vouchers, days after saying he would resign as president and call early elections.

The package, worth more than €600mn and benefiting more than two million people, is one of several pre-election support programmes announced by the government in recent years and comes after 19 months of anti-government protests that have weakened support for the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

Vucic said payments would begin within the next three months, with pensioners receiving the money first.

"Our pensions will continue to grow," he said. "The increased pensions will be paid to our oldest citizens immediately. They will not have to wait until January 1."

He did not say by how much salaries and pensions would increase, saying details would be announced later.

Under the package, the poorest pensioners will receive one-off payments of RSD35,000, while around one million other pensioners will receive RSD27,500. Pensioners with above-average pensions will receive RSD20,000.

Recipients of social welfare, child benefits and veterans' allowances will each receive RSD25,000, while military veterans will receive RSD10,000.

The government will also issue 30,000 tourism vouchers worth RSD10,000 each for pensioners earning up to RSD80,000 a month, to be used for holidays in Serbia.

The announcement came two days after Vucic said he would resign as president within weeks and call early presidential and parliamentary elections. Although he has not confirmed what office he will seek, he is widely expected to lead the ruling party's campaign and run for prime minister.

Vucic has frequently announced pension increases, salary rises and one-off payments before elections, targeting pensioners, public-sector workers and other groups regarded as key supporters of the SNS.

This year's package comes as the government faces its most sustained political challenge since coming to power in 2012. The protests began after the collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024 that killed 16 people. Demonstrators say the disaster exposed widespread corruption and poor oversight of state construction projects, allegations the government rejects.

Opinion polls still show the SNS leading comfortably, but suggest a student-backed electoral list could emerge as the second-largest force, potentially depriving the ruling party of its outright majority.