Serbia completes talks with IMF

The Serbian government and a visiting IMF mission have reached agreement on the last review of the current stand-by arrangement. This will enable Serbia to draw some USD 365mn in order to support the country's hard currency reserves. Serbia completes talks with IMF It was also agreed that, should the budget income increase, some of that money could be used later this year for limited one-time payments to persons receiving low salaries and pensions, said Albert Jaeger of the IMF delegation. Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic said Tuesday that the government platform for the talks with worker unions was the critical part of the successfully completed talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She told a news conference that the platform was based on the principles that there can be no increase in the budget deficit and workers should achieve a better standard of living through solidarity. The improvements in standard should depend on public revenue, which should be calculated every three months, Dragutinovic added. According to her, the IMF insisted that there should be limits to what worker demands the government was willing to meet and the salary and pension expenditures should not exceed RSD 10bn. The government, companies and investors would benefit from a new arrangement with the IMF, the minister remarked. According to her, the government has fulfilled all the obligations regarding the final review of Serbia's economic performance under the Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF. The 2010 budget deficit is smaller than planned and the projections for the 2011 deficit are in line with fiscal rules. The stand-by arrangement that is set to expire this spring was worth a total of EUR 2.9bn.

Serbia completes talks with IMF

It was also agreed that, should the budget income increase, some of that money could be used later this year for limited one-time payments to persons receiving low salaries and pensions, said Albert Jaeger of the IMF delegation.

Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović said Tuesday that the government platform for the talks with worker unions was the critical part of the successfully completed talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

She told a news conference that the platform was based on the principles that there can be no increase in the budget deficit and workers should achieve a better standard of living through solidarity.

The improvements in standard should depend on public revenue, which should be calculated every three months, Dragutinović added.

According to her, the IMF insisted that there should be limits to what worker demands the government was willing to meet and the salary and pension expenditures should not exceed RSD 10bn.

The government, companies and investors would benefit from a new arrangement with the IMF, the minister remarked.

According to her, the government has fulfilled all the obligations regarding the final review of Serbia's economic performance under the Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF. The 2010 budget deficit is smaller than planned and the projections for the 2011 deficit are in line with fiscal rules.

The stand-by arrangement that is set to expire this spring was worth a total of EUR 2.9bn.