International Monetary Fund

BELGRADE - Adopting the 2015 budget will be the toughest part of the first stage of the implementation of measures launched by Serbia as part of the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), says Serbian Minister of Finance Dusan Vujovic.

A joint IMF and European Commission delegation had its first discussions with Romanian officials on Tuesday over the Balkan country's draft budget for next year.

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Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Tuesday that the approval of the 2015 state budget is 'a huge personal stake' and also a chance for him to prove the already-taken measures were not 'electoral hand-outs'.

A joint mission of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Commission (EC) experts will be in Bucharest over December 2 - 10 to discuss with the Romanian authorities the 2015 Budget Bill.

The mission will be headed by chief negotiator for Romania Andrea Schaechter on behalf of the IMF, and by Istvan Szekely on behalf of the EC.

Greece is set to ask for a brief extension to its current bailout and is discussing the possibility of the International Monetary Fund maintaining a prominent role in whatever program will follow, Kathimerini understands.

Greece may have to delay by a few days or weeks its planned exit from an EU/IMF bailout by the end of the year, the country's deputy prime minister said on Thursday, citing "technical reasons."

"The government will adopt the draft budget by the end of this week, and then it will be discussed with the IMF and, on December 10, it will be presented in parliament in order to be adopted," Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Tuesday.

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BELGRADE - Resident representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Serbia Daehaeng Kim stated on Tuesday that the stake of non-performing loans (NLPs) in Serbia's banking sector totals 23 percent and that only Greece and Cyprus have a higher level of NLPs.

BELGRADE - Governor of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Jorgovanka Tabakovic underscored on Tuesday that the contents of the arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are not being kept secret from the public, but the details cannot be revealed just yet until the agreement with the international financial institution is officially signed.

Turkey has not seen economic progress over the last six years because it has not made any significant reforms, Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) head Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu has said.

“Because Turkish people have lost their common identity to live and move forward together, we are now all stuck in the middle-income trap,” Hisarcıklıoğlu said.