Serbia Does Not Need New Funding Deal with IMF – Econ Min Dinkic

Serbia completed a three-year stand-by funding arrangement with the IMF in February 2006.

"We will continue to work with IMF but Serbia will not borrow funds from the organisation," Dinkic told a news conference, adding the IMF’s role in Serbia will be an advisory one.

Currently, Serbia’s foreign currency reserves are 3.5 times bigger than the total dinar aggregates, he added.

Serbia’s economy is expected to grow by real 7.0% this year, up from the annual increase of around 6.0% registered over the last five years.

The IMF said last month Serbia must cut spending and expand its export base to slow inflation and reduce its mounting external deficit, .

Serbia, which displays an impressive economic growth, will post a current account gap equivalent to 18.5% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in the current year, the head of the IMF mission to Belgrade Albert Jaeger said. He recommended to the government to aim to slash that figure in half.

He called the Serbian central bank's current prudent stance fitting into the context of the ongoing turmoil on global financial markets in which risks to the financial stability are on the rise.

($ = 0.779 euro)