Mali: IMF praised resilience of our economy, much work still ahead

BELGRADE - An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission completed on Wednesday the first review under the current 24-month stand-by arrangement with Serbia, in place since December 2022, the Serbian Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.

In a statement, it said all objectives to date had been accomplished and that the IMF Board of Governors was due to approve the first review in June.

After two weeks of discussions with IMF representatives led by new mission head Donal McGettigan, Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said the IMF was pleased with the progress of the programme and the state of the Serbian economy, which he noted had showed resilience in challenging times.

"Praise from the IMF as one of the world's most significant financial institutions lends credibility to our economic policy and demonstrates that we are on the right track. The IMF representatives commended our macroeconomic results, with particular emphasis on the record-high level of FDI, and noted that our economy has proved resilient to external shocks," Mali said.

He said inflation remained the only challenge but that it was expected to halve by the end of the year and that good coordination between the fiscal and monetary policies was important in that context.

He said restructuring the energy sector was now an absolute priority for the Serbian government, as well as an important part of the arrangement with the IMF.

"We are preparing an investment plan for the energy sector, with defined priorities and projects that can be carried out over the next several years, which will give an extra kickstart to our industry and accelerate GDP growth. Therefore, we have done a lot, but a lot of work is still ahead of us. We must invest in the energy sector, in the so-called green agenda, as well as continue to invest in road and railway infrastructure and especially in education. It is important for us to find new sources of growth," Mali said.

He said restructuring and professionalising state-owned enterprises was a part of the agenda with the IMF and that a law on management of state-owned enterprises was under preparation.