The new wave of economic crisis that has been spreading throughout Europe has not yet reached Serbia, Serbian Economy Minister Nebojša Ćirić said Wednesday.
He added that problems faced by the local economy were results of earlier crisis.
The minister told B92 that the government would continue discussing ways to deal with a possible emergence of the crisis in Serbia.
“We did not face the problem of illiquidity of the economy, unemployment and fluctuations in the dinar exchange rate just now, we have been facing it for a long time and now the crisis has only intensified,” Ćirić pointed out, noting that the biggest problem was the fact that around 90,000 people had lost their jobs over the last twelve months.
The economy minister said the new stand-by arrangement that Serbia should soon sign with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) out of precaution was of key importance and that it showed that Serbia would not have to fight a new crisis and that it was able to meet its obligations.
“The agreement should guarantee macroeconomic stability, but is also an indication that the government has a credible economic policy, which is a positive signal to all potential investors,” said Ćirić explained.
Source b92.net