A delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive in Serbia on August 18, Beta news agency reported. The IMF delegation will be headed by mission chief Albert Jaeger and will remain in Serbia until August 31. According to an IMF aide memoire published in early June, the IMF and the Serbian government plan to resume talks on a new precautionary agreement in late August. The key focus of a potential new arrangement will be to support fiscal discipline and at the same time increase government efficiency. The most challenging task for the authorities will be to keep public wages and pension costs restrained in the coming years, as envisaged by the fiscal responsibility rules. A potential new arrangement would be agreed for a period of 18 months and would enable Serbia to draw EUR 1bn in case it needs to finance its balance of payments. Under the baseline scenario, Serbia is not expected to withdraw the funds. As reported earlier, Serbia's EUR 2.9bn stand-by loan deal with the IMF expired in April. A total of EUR 1.5bn have been withdrawn under the SBA. |
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