November 10 (SeeNews) - Serbia's president Aleksandar Vucic said he expects that the country's central government debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio will fall below 63% at the end of 2017.
Therefore, the Serbian debt-to-GDP ratio is getting closer to the 60% Maastricht requirement, as pensions and salaries will continue to rise next year, Vucic said in a video file posted on the website of news agency Tanjug on Thursday.
Serbia's central government debt decreased to 24.1 billion euro ($28.1 billion) at the end of September from 24.82 billion euro at the end of 2016, according to finance ministry data. It was equivalent to 64.6% of the projected 2017 GDP, down from 73.0% at the end of 2016.
In September, Serbia's prime minister Ana Brnabic said she expects the central government debt-to-GDP ratio to decline to 62% in 2017.
($ = 0.8588 euro)