December 4 (SeeNews) - Serbia has reduced its central government debt by two percentage points in a single day on December 3 to 54.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP), finance minister Sinisa Mali said on Tuesday.
The government repaid a $1.3 billion (1.1 billion euro) debt on Monday through own savings, Mali said in a video file posted on the website of news agency Tanjug.
"We wish to repay as soon as possible the old and expensive debt, in order to stabilise Serbia's public finances and establish conditions for the further economic growth of the country," Mali said.
On Monday, Serbia's president Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia's central government debt is expected to decline to between 47% and 48.5% of the projected 2019 gross GDP in January.
The central government debt decreased to 23.946 billion euro at the end of September from 23.977 billion euro a month earlier, according to finance ministry data.
Direct liabilities fell to 22.383 billion euro in September from 22.391 billion euro at the end of August.
($ = 0.8771 euro)