Serbia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have agreed on a new advisory arrangement to be signed by the middle of this year.
As agreed at the meeting of the Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali with the IMF Mission led by Jan Kees Martijn, the new arrangement will not imply financial support, but will be exclusively of an advisory nature, and will last for two and a half years, ie until the end of 2023.
Mali pointed out that the most important goal of the new arrangement will be to preserve the achieved results, as well as to continue with important structural reforms so that Serbia can achieve even higher rates of economic growth.
After Serbia successfully completed the previous “Policy Coordination Instrument” arrangement in January 2021, some of the proposed reform objectives in the new arrangement are the adoption of a fiscal rule that would limit the size of the public debt deficit, the adoption of a Capital Market Development Strategy with accompanying action plan, adoption of an action plan for the implementation of ownership policy in state and public companies, the Government’s website reported.
Representatives of the IMF Mission also pointed out that Serbia responded to the crisis caused by the coronavirus with strong measures, that vaccination in our country was among the most successful in Europe, and that they expect economic growth to be five percent by the end of the year.
In the years to come, the IMF expects growth to be approximately four percent. It was also pointed out that the latest assistance measures, including the extension of the guarantee scheme, will help preserve employment in the private sector.
The interlocutors agreed that the most important thing is to preserve the hard-earned reputation of a fiscally secure country, as well as to continue with a responsible fiscal policy so that the public debt remains under control, ie so that it does not exceed 60 percent of GDP, eKapija reports.
