BRNABIC: It's not certain that we will look for a new arrangement with the IMF

Serbia is focused on completing the program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this year and will assess its impact on the economic growth before it requests a new arrangement, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said in her interview for Bloomberg.

Brnabic pointed out that she would continue carrying out the plan of the public administration reform started by President Aleksandar Vucic, whom she succeeded as the prime minister.

When asked whether Serbia might give up on renewing the three-year precautionary arrangement, through which IMF officials recommended measures including expenditure cuts, sale or closing down of unprofitable state companies and layoffs in the public administration, she answered that “it's possible”.

In her interview for Bloomberg, Brnabic said that she wanted the economic growth to speed up in the next two years to 4% from 3% in 2017.

As the American agency says, she is facing a hard struggle, as the economic growth slowed down to 1.2% in the first quarter of 2017, compared to the corresponding period of 2016, and she is now considering whether the benefits of a new arrangement with the IMF outweigh the strict supervision of the Washington-based creditor.

– It's obviously good to have someone who's giving you tempo, the pace of reforms, with whom you are discussing the priorities, and all of that is a big, big pro. But sometimes the IMF is more stringent than is necessary, and in that respect, it is possible that a new deal hinders growth – Brnabic said.

According to her, the government she's heading will try to cut 11,300 jobs in local administrations by 2020, including 2,500 this year, as Serbia is reforming its public administration and reorganizing the state finances.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Međunarodni monetarni fond - MMF Beograd

IMF

International Monetary Fund

IMF arrangement

public administration reform

economic growth of Serbia

Ana Brnabic