Mali: Serbia continues on path of macroeconomic stability

WASHINGTON - Serbian First Deputy PM and Finance Minister Sinisa Mali on Thursday began a series of meetings in Washington, where he is attending the IMF/World Bank Group Spring Meeting.

Mali spoke with representatives of the Standard & Poor's rating agency, which awarded an investment-grade rating to Serbia last year.

He informed them of Serbia's financial and economic performance and said the country would continue on the path of macroeconomic stability.

The topic of the meeting was further improvement of Serbia's credit rating.

Mali is also due to meet with Moody's and Fitch Ratings representatives.

With a projected economic growth rate of 3.5 pct, Serbia will be one of the top three European countries in terms of GDP growth, Mali noted.

He also said that, with 3.9 pct GDP growth, Serbia had also been one of the fastest-growing economies last year.

"We are seeing very quick growth and these figures confirm that we have faster growth compared to the European average," Mali said.

He also said Serbia's public debt was under control and that, according to the latest figures, it stood at 43.9 pct of GDP.

All these results are a great buffer we have for further growth and progress of Serbia, Mali said.

He said inflation was under control and stable at around 4 pct, and noted that Serbia continued a current arrangement with the IMF.

He said the specialised EXPO 2027, to be hosted by Serbia, would be one of the biggest events in the world and an opportunity for all countries to present themselves.

"I presented our macroeconomic results and the Leap Into the Future - Serbia 2027 programme, with emphasis on the EXPO 2027 project, which will be an additional push for our growth, as well as our activities concerning the reform agenda and EU accession," Mali posted on Instagram after the meeting.

He noted that he had convinced the S&P representatives of the resilience of the Serbian economy, which he said remained consistent on the path of fiscal accountability, with a strong focus on investment in infrastructure, energy transition and digitalisation.

"In that context, we also discussed the impact of geopolitical tensions on capital flows, new investment and regional stability - factors that are increasingly taken into account in analyses by rating agencies," Mali said.