That is equivalent to the amount of about 890.22 million dollars or 759.71 million euros, says the vice governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Ana Ivkovic, for Tanjug.
According to Ivkovic, this is a considerable amount, considering that the quota of Serbia in the IMF is 0.14 percent.
According to her, the IMF yesterday distributed 95.8 percent of the total allocation of 650 billion dollars of SDR, which was approved by the Board of Directors of the Fund to support the liquidity and the fight of the member states against the pandemic and the consequences of the corona crisis.
Vice Governor Ivkovic estimates that even during this crisis, the IMF showed that it is not only a “policeman” but also someone who cares about global finances.
She reminds that the allocation of SDR was talked about last year as well, but that proposal found greater support only this year.
“At the end of July, IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva submitted her proposal for the allocation of Special Drawing Rights in the amount of as much as 650 billion dollars, which is a really huge amount. The decision was adopted by the IMF Board of Directors on August 2, and followed yesterday for allocation of 95.8 percent of SDR from the total amount of 650 billion dollars,” explains Ivkovic.
She notes that the IMF has also given clear guidelines that the aim of these allocations is to meet the long-term needs of each country’s reserves, to build consumer and business confidence in countries where it does not exist and to strengthen where it exists, as well as to support recovery from the effects of the pandemic, especially the most vulnerable countries.
When it comes to the use of these funds, Ivkovic states for Tanjug that every country is free to use them in accordance with its possibilities.
“It can use them to strengthen foreign exchange reserves, to repay some more expensive debts, then if it planned to enter the international market, it can use these funds instead,” she points out.
She says, however, that these funds must not be a substitute for structural reforms, which means that every country must continue to implement them.
The Vice Governor of the NBS states that it is not yet known what Serbia will spend these funds on, and that, she adds, will be the subject of an agreement with the holders of executive power in Serbia, who have shown that they know how to lead the country.
Ivkovic estimates that this means a lot for our country, above all for strengthening trust.
“For both the global level and the international community, that means strengthening trust, and thus more favorable financial conditions. The more favorable the financial conditions are at the global level, the better it certainly reflects on Serbia,” she emphasized.
She reminds that our foreign exchange reserves amounted to 14.58 billion euros at the end of July, and that now, as NBS Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic stated at the presentation of the inflation report, they are even higher, and that they are 10% higher than before the crisis, which succeeded rarely any country, Tanjug reports.
