IMF Advises Serbia To Introduce Order into Public Enterprises

Aleksandar Vucic, Belgrade, March 19 2023 (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

In a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on April 4, International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives said that Serbia’s budget results were extremely good and that indicators spoke about stable economic trends and that the current projections of this year’s growth were somewhat more optimistic than the IMF’s forecast, according to a release from President’s Office. 

Vucic and the IMF delegation, headed by Donal McGettigan, discussed the stand-by arrangement, restructuring of public enterprises, fiscal policy measures for reducing inflationary pressure, and Serbia’s projected growth in the coming period.  

Vucic said that the Serbian government would adopt an energy sector investment plan with defined priorities, expenditures and projects which could be executed over the next two to five years. That way, according to Vucic, Serbia would not only stabilize fuel supply to the domestic market, but would also contribute to resolving the still burning issue of energy stability of the region.  

The IMF delegation agreed it was necessary to pay due attention to functioning of public enterprises, wherein the IMF would be supervising control and their operation system in cooperation with relevant ministries It was assessed that the inflation rate was dropping in the second quarter of this year, while a significant drop was expected in the second half of 2023. The IMF suggested that fiscal measures should be used to further reduce inflationary pressure.