Parliament ratifies agreement on Arab loans

BELGRADE - The Serbian Parliament adopted on Friday a bill that defines the conditions of the USD 1 billion budget loan from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Serbia.

The government will receive a USD 1 billion loan from the UAE with a payment deadline of 10 years and a 2 percent interest rate.

Serbia will make payments on the loan every 6 months, that is it will pay the first installment 6 months after the money is withdrawn.

The parliament also ratified an irrigation loan Serbia got from the Abu Dhabi Develompent Fund, which totals USD 97 million.

The loan has a fixed interest rate of 2.5 percent a year.

A financial contract for an APEKS loan for small and medium companies and other III/A priorities between Serbia, the European Investment Bank and the National Bank of Serbia was also ratified.

Minister of Finance Lazar Krstic explained that the loan would be used to fund companies cheaply, because the interest rate was 3-4 percent.

Photo Tanjug/N. Jovanovic (Archive