The Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali met today with the delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The delegation is headed by Donal McGettigan on the occasion of the second review of the standby arrangement that was approved by Serbia in December last year.
Mali presented the economic results of Serbia so far, the progress of the agreed reforms, and informed the delegation that the budget of the Republic of Serbia for 2024 is ready and that today the debate in the Parliament on this law begins.
“Serbia expects the adoption of the budget for the next year. There are no surprises in the budget, we are following the policy we have implemented so far”, Mali said at a meeting at the Ministry of Finance.
He also pointed out that the recent meeting with the deputy director of the IMF in Marrakesh, Bo Lee, was good and that Serbia also presented its economic performance in Morocco.
“We are liquid and on the right track, we regularly fulfill all our obligations. Energy and the restructuring of the EPS remain key in further reforms, but we are also reforming the tax administration and adhering to all fiscal rules. The effects of everything we have done are enormous”, he said. Mali concluded that the precautionary arrangement is good for Serbia, which is struggling well with the effects of the world crisis.
Head of the IMF delegation: Serbia is on the right track towards fulfilling all agreed goals and obligations within the current arrangement
Donal McGettigan assessed that Serbia’s progress is evident.
“The negotiations regarding the budget were very successful and were completed in a very short time, and we confirmed this together. All the structural goals that we had in the program have been fulfilled so far, Serbia is therefore on the right track in terms of fulfilling all the agreed goals and obligations within the current arrangement”, McGettingen said.
He also praised the “Iskra” system, the central information system for calculating the wages of all employees in the public sector, in which, as the Minister of Finance emphasized, 296,000 people will be involved in two months, and that they will work together to continue the further implementation of the system that brings order to this segment.
The mission of the Monetary Fund in Serbia started on October 19 and will last until October 31. At the end of last year, this international financial institution approved a two-year standby arrangement worth around 2.4 billion euros for Serbia. The arrangement is support for the agreed economic program of Serbia.
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