Budget revision after talks with IMF

A draft of the 2010 budget revision is ready but it will only be forwarded to the government and parliament after the talks with the IMF. This will take place after the talks on the sixth revision of the current arrangement are completed, Serbian Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic said on Tuesday. Budget revision after talks with IMF The minister recalled that the 2010 budget revision and a bill on the 2011 budget are the two main topics of the talks with the IMF mission, and that their approval by the IMF will depend on whether Serbia had fulfilled its obligations from the current stand-by arrangement. At the official opening of the Spiljani border crossing at the Serbia-Montenegro border, Dragutinovic told reporters that the planned 2010 budget deficit is 4.8 percent (of the GDP), which is about RSD 150mn, indicating that the 2011 budget will have a deficit that is by 0,75 percent lower than this year's deficit. The Budget System Law, particularly its first part - the Fiscal Responsibility Law, envisages gradual reduction of the budget deficit in the next four to five years, clarified Dragutinovic. It was concluded at yesterday's meeting with the IMF representatives, which was attended by Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and Diana Dragutinovic, that the 2011 budget framework will be harmonized during the stay of the IMF mission in Belgrade. During the meeting, current economic trends and estimates for the period until the end of the year were analyzed in function of the 2010 budget revision. The current stand-by arrangement with the IMF expires in April 2011, while the IMF control function remains, regardless of whether the arrangement will be extended to the period after 2011.

Budget revision after talks with IMF

The minister recalled that the 2010 budget revision and a bill on the 2011 budget are the two main topics of the talks with the IMF mission, and that their approval by the IMF will depend on whether Serbia had fulfilled its obligations from the current stand-by arrangement.

At the official opening of the Špiljani border crossing at the Serbia-Montenegro border, Dragutinović told reporters that the planned 2010 budget deficit is 4.8 percent (of the GDP), which is about RSD 150mn, indicating that the 2011 budget will have a deficit that is by 0,75 percent lower than this year's deficit.

The Budget System Law, particularly its first part - the Fiscal Responsibility Law, envisages gradual reduction of the budget deficit in the next four to five years, clarified Dragutinović.

It was concluded at yesterday's meeting with the IMF representatives, which was attended by Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković and Diana Dragutinović, that the 2011 budget framework will be harmonized during the stay of the IMF mission in Belgrade.

During the meeting, current economic trends and estimates for the period until the end of the year were analyzed in function of the 2010 budget revision.

The current stand-by arrangement with the IMF expires in April 2011, while the IMF control function remains, regardless of whether the arrangement will be extended to the period after 2011.