Belgrade facing hard talks with IMF

The minister told Serbia’s state TV (RTS) that the level to which public sector salaries and pensions will be raised won’t be known until September when an IMF mission is scheduled to come to Serbia. “There is room on healthy grounds to pay back the people who bore the brunt of the reforms. According to a European Commission report, Serbia leads the region in terms of foreign direct investments,” he said.  

The minister said talks with the IMF are always difficult. “The IMF has told us that we do not need money but that we do need stronger institutions, a reform of the tax authority, better competitiveness for the economy and higher growth rates,” he said, adding that Serbia had a budget surplus of 30.9 billion Dinars in the first half of the year, or 1.4 percent of the GDP.

Mali added that Serbia has registered a rise of 15.8 percent in direct investments over the first five months of this year compared to the same period a year earlier.