May 21 (SeeNews) - Serbia's government has said it expects to continue its negotiations on concluding a non-financial agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June and to sign it in the summer.
The new agreement, along with the conditions that the Serbian government has to fulfil, are almost agreed, the government said in a statement on Friday.
There is a high level of understanding with the IMF on what needs to be done in the coming years, Serbian prime minister Ana Brnabic said in the statement.
The IMF reached an agreement with the Serbian government on key policy elements of the new programme for the country, the Fund said on Friday in a concluding statement of the mission that visited the country in May 7-18.
In February, Serbia concluded a $1.32 billion (1.1 billion euro) three-year stand-by agreement (SBA) with the IMF. After three years of effort under the programme, Serbia's economy has turned around, as fiscal accounts recorded a surplus in 2017, economic confidence improved with stronger investment both from foreign and domestic sources, while unemployment is near historic lows, and falling, banks are solid, and non-performing loans are now below their pre-crisis levels, the IMF has said.
A new arrangement with the IMF will most likely be signed but it will not be financial, as the country does not need financial support even for precaution reasons, Brnabic said in February.
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