BELGRADE (Serbia), October 31 (SeeNews) – Serbia's prime minister Ana Brnabic said on Tuesday the country's public debt was equivalent to 65.4% of the projected 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of September.
Public debt is expected to fall to 62% of GDP at the end of this year from 73% in 2016, Brnabic said in a video file posted on the website of Serbian news agency Tanjug.
Budget surplus stands at about 80 billion dinars ($78 million/ 67 million euro) and Serbia expects a successful completion of the eighth and final review of the country's performance under the current precautionary stand-by arrangement (SBA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brnabic said during a panel discussion at a conference organised by the Nordic Business Alliance in Serbia.
"This is an important sign that Serbia is a reliable and stable partner when it comes to difficult and politically unpopular reforms," Brnabic said.
Serbia's central bank said on Monday it has started talks with a visiting IMF mission on the SBA review that will focus on the recent macroeconomic and fiscal developments, the application of agreed measures in the third quarter of 2017 and the state budget for next year.
An IMF team led by James Roaf is on a technical mission to Serbia between October 26 and November 7 to complete the final review of the results of the implementation of the SBA.