November 7 (SeeNews) - Serbia needs to continue its cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as the current three-year stand-by arrangement (SBA) has yielded positive macroeconomic results, Fiscal Council member Nikola Altiparmakov said on Tuesday.
"I do not think there should be a dilemma whether we want a continuation of the arrangement with the IMF," Altiparmakov said in a video file posted on the website of Serbian news agency Tanjug.
The cooperation with the IMF represents a win-win situation for Serbia, Altiparmakov said during an international conference organised by the Belgrade Stock Exchange.
"Now we no longer have a fiscal fire at home and we can turn to economic growth," Altiparmakov said.
The IMF said earlier on Tuesday it will make available an additional 119.4 million euro ($138.1 million) to Serbia upon completion of the final review of the country’s economic performance under the precautionary SBA signed in February 2015.
The fresh funding will bring the total amount available to Serbia under the stand-by arrangement (SBA) to 1.05 billion euro, the IMF said in a statement after an IMF team, led by James Roaf, completed the final review mission to the country.
The Serbian authorities have indicated that they do not intend to draw on the resources available under the arrangement. Following this review, the programme will conclude on February 23, 2018.
Serbia's Fiscal Council was established in 2011 to assess the compliance of the government's fiscal policy with the fiscal rules.
($ = 0.864975 euro)