December 21 (SeeNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) allowed Serbia access to some 400 million euro ($439.7 million), concluding a second review of a 2.4 billion euro standby deal with the country reached last year, the IMF said on Thursday.
The authorities intend to treat the standby deal as precautionary starting from this review, meaning they will choose not to access the available funds for now, the IMF said in a statement.
The IMF highlighted the country’s recovering growth, deceleration in the annual inflation rate, a narrowing current account deficit, and record high foreign exchange reserves under the programme.
“The programme is on track. All quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets were met, and structural reform momentum has been maintained. Following three rounds of energy tariff increases under the program, the finances of the energy state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have improved, and fiscal risks have moderated,” the IMF said.
The IMF projects Serbia’s economy to expand by 2.4% this year and by 3.3% next year, helped by falling inflation and recovering real wages.
Inflation is predicted to decline to 8% this year, before slowing to 4% in 2024, the IMF added.
($ = 0.9105 euro)