IMF, Serbia talks start

BELGRADE - A mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has started the talks with Serbian officials in Belgrade on Wednesday on the state of public finances in the country, the IMF Resident Representative Office in Belgrade confirmed for Tanjug.

The Belgrade office did not specify the participants, or the exact topic of the meeting. The IMF delegation led by Zuzana Murgasova will remain in Serbia until March 13.

State Secretary at the Serbian Ministry of Finance Nikola Corsovic told the RTS before the meeting commenced that the talks would be technical and not referring to a new precautionary arrangement, specifying that this would be only the initial preparation for the negotiations, which are expected to take place after the new government is formed.

According to Corsovic, the IMF will analyze the execution of the state budget in 2013 and the first two months of 2014, and most likely call for additional cost cuts and deficit reduction.

Photo Tanjug/Z. Zestic (Archive)