Additional EUR 65 m for Serbia - Seventh IMF agreement audit finished successfully
According
to IMF statement, inflation is still within the target and the current account
deficit has declined.
IMF
estimates that at the same time it is necessary to build stronger institutions
and further progress in implementation of structural reform programs to improve
economic efficiency, accelerate private sector-based economic growth and
accelerate convergence in order to lay the foundations for EU membership.
-
Good revenue-based results supported an important fiscal consolidation and
enabled reduction of expenditures to be less than planned within the program. However,
restricting compulsory current spending is still an important priority in order
to reduce public debt and create fiscal space for necessary capital investment
and potentially targeted reductions in tax burdens - it is estimated in the
statement.
Audit completion will add EUR 64.9 m to Serbia within SBA, thus making total available amount reaching EUR 918.5 m. Serbian authorities announced they do not intend to withdraw funds available within the agreement.