International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative in Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik says that 2011 will be a hard year, but not necessarily harder than 2010.
He told B92 that a lot would depend on the moves of the Serbian government, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS), business activity and the effort of the citizens to provide a better future for themselves.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative in Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik said that talks on Serbia’s stand-by arrangement would begin in February.
“We will discuss the macroeconomic elements of the program, including fiscal objectives. After the program expires, around the middle of April, we expect to continue cooperation with Serbia in the form of post-program monitoring, or continue the arrangement if Serbian authorities want to do so,†Lissovolik told daily Politika.
The Serbian government fulfilled the conditions that were set out for the granting of the sixth revision of the arrangement with the IMF. This is according to IMF Permanent Representative in Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik, who explained that this happened when the Law on 2011 Budget and amendments to Law on Pension and Disability Insurance was sent to parliament.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission will arrive in Belgrade on Thursday, it has been announced. They will immediately begin technical talks with the Serbian government on the sixth revision of the stand-by arrangement between the IMF and Serbia, IMF Resident Representative in Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik has stated for Tanjug.
IMF’s resident representative Bogdan Lissovolik says Serbia should remove hurdles and make doing business easier to companies and business persons. He also said he was convinced that the NBS will manage to keep the inflation level at the projected level of six percent.
Serbia’s economic recovery is modest, but moves towards sound foundations, financial stability has improved, an IMF official says. Inflation has become a great risk with the current account deficit reaching nine per cent of GDP, estimated the resident representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik on Thursday.
All conditions set before Serbia so far as part of the arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been met, Bogdan Lissovolik said. The IMF resident representative to Serbia said that this is good news, but that the IMF would like to see faster progress in structural reforms, particularly in the area of public expenditure efficiency in the health and education sectors.
IMF representative to Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik stated on Tuesday that Serbia should not unfreeze salaries and pensions.
He specified that this should not happen before the expiry of the stand-by arrangement with the IMF in April 2011.
IMF Resident Representative in Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik expressed belief that the IMF would approve the fourth revision of Serbia’s current loan. Serbia and this international financial organization have a stand-by arrangement currently in place worth EUR 2.9bn.
IMF’s representative in Belgrade Bogdan Lissovolik says that Serbia may not need a new loan arrangement with the international financial institution.
This, the permanent representarive explained, if the country meets all requirements envisaged by the current arrangement.
The International Monetary Fund does not expect any changes in the NBS’s strategy after the resignation of Governor Radovan Jelasic. The IMF representative in Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik said that the arrangement which IMF has with Serbia is in power and that the agreed framework for economic policies is being implemented.
IMF’s Bogdan Lissovolik says that with the recovery of the world economy the process of privatization of public companies in Serbia should be resumed. Lissovolik, who is IMF’s resident representative in Serbia, pointed out at a round table in Belgrade today that the privatization process should be launched via corporatization of the companies and then implementation of restructuring and sale, adding that perfect market conditions should not be waited for.
IMF Resident Representative in Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik spoke about the government’s policy regarding the freezing of salaries in the public sector. Despite the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government has set aside another RSD 12bn for the salaries in the administration, Lissovolik warned.
IMF Resident Representative in Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik spoke about the government’s policy regarding the freezing of salaries in the public sector. Despite the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government has set aside another RSD 12bn for the salaries in the administration, Lissovolik warned.
IMF representative to Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik says he did not talk with the government about the union requests to increase the public sector salaries. But he noted that the current stand-by loan arrangement between Serbia and IMF envisages that pensions and salaries in the public sector remain frozen in 2010.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) did not negotiate with the Serbian government about an increase of salaries in the public sector. IMF Resident Representative in Belgrade Bogdan Lissovolik told B92 that it was necessary to keep pensions and wages in the public sector frozen in 2010.
International Monetary Fund official in Serbia Bogdan Lissovolik says the IMF will ask for balanced and credible measures for securing fiscal sustainability. Lissovolik told Belgrade daily Danas that he did not wish to comment on the recent economic measures of the Serbian government, because of the “sensitivity of the coming talksâ€.
