Jelašić to discuss debt reprogramming

National Bank of Serbia Governor Radovan Jelasic is in Vienna attending a meeting of international creditors to discuss reprogramming Serbian companies’ debt. With foreign debt owed by private banks and domestic companies expected to reach around EUR 4.5bn this year, Jelasic believes that the agreement reached yesterday with the IMF will make it easier to negotiate reprogramming. Jelasic to discuss debt reprogramming He explained that what mattered most right now was that foreign banks should continue lending to Serbian companies at the same level. “Of course, that could mean a reprogramming of the same debt, or reprogramming of new loans—be it cross-border or with banks or some other way. So no-one’s asking banks here to reprogram the debts of existing borrowers under the existing conditions—all we want to ensure is that there is no exodus of hard currency from Serbia at this moment in time,“ he explained. Maintaining private external debt at the same level is one of the IMF’s conditions for the new arrangement with Serbia. Today’s meeting in Vienna will be attended by IMF representatives, representatives of the ten banks with the highest stakes in Serbia, as well as officials from the Serbian Finance Ministry and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Radovan Jelasic (FoNet, archive)

Jelašić to discuss debt reprogramming

He explained that what mattered most right now was that foreign banks should continue lending to Serbian companies at the same level.

“Of course, that could mean a reprogramming of the same debt, or reprogramming of new loans—be it cross-border or with banks or some other way. So no-one’s asking banks here to reprogram the debts of existing borrowers under the existing conditions—all we want to ensure is that there is no exodus of hard currency from Serbia at this moment in time,“ he explained.

Maintaining private external debt at the same level is one of the IMF’s conditions for the new arrangement with Serbia.

Today’s meeting in Vienna will be attended by IMF representatives, representatives of the ten banks with the highest stakes in Serbia, as well as officials from the Serbian Finance Ministry and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.