November 7 (SeeNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is keen to keep its cooperation with the Serbian government through its Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI), intended for countries which do not need financial support, the head of the IMF mission to Belgrade, James Roaf, said on Tuesday.
"The authorities are interested in continuing our collaboration going forward and we are certainly ready to help in any way we can," Roaf said in a video file posted on the website of news agency Tanjug.
The PCI is a non-financing tool open to all members of the IMF. It enables them to signal a commitment to reforms and catalyse financing from other sources. The establishment of the PCI is part of the Fund’s broader effort to strengthen the global financial safety net, a network of insurance and loan instruments that countries can draw on if confronted with a crisis.
Coordinating the policies that the IMF will be supporting is the most important issue, as the country is in a different situation than in the beginning of the SBA in February 2015, when severe imbalances had to be addressed, Roaf said. "Now the focus needs to be on the growth of the private sector, of jobs, of incomes."
Therefore, the IMF is very keen to work with the Serbian government to identify the best set of policies to take that agenda forward, Roaf said.
The IMF said earlier on Tuesday it will make available an additional 119.4 million euro ($138.1 million) to Serbia upon completion of the final review of the country’s economic performance under the 2015 stand-by agreement.