Serbia exits a $1.32 billion three-year program with the IMF on February 22 boasting outperformance on several of its goals. Concluding the program with flying colors is, however, only the first step in building a strong and vibrant economy able to compete globally, a recent IMF report observes.
The program has done much better than expected, overperforming many of its macroeconomic goals,” said James Roaf, head of the IMF’s Serbia team. “Serbia managed to dig itself out of a hole: after stalling for years in the wake of the global financial crisis, growth has now returned, coupled with rising investment and employment. A lot of work has been started to transform the country into a full-fledged market economy; these reforms need to be deepened after the conclusion of the program for Serbia to reach its full potential.”
In 2014 Serbia’s economy was in serious trouble. Following the 2008 global financial crisis, the country’s economy stagnated, while weak public institutions, collapsing tax receipts, and overspending by government and state-owned enterprises resulted in a rapid buildup of public debt. Recognizing the unsustainable situation, the authorities adopted an ambitious program of fiscal adjustment, financial sector strengthening, and broad-based economic reforms. The IMF supported the program with economic advice and monitoring, along with precautionary financing.
After three years of effort under the program, the economy has turned around. The fiscal accounts, with the second-largest deficit in Europe in 2014, boasted a surplus in 2017. Economic confidence has improved with stronger investment both from foreign and domestic sources. Unemployment is near historic lows, and falling. Banks are solid, and nonperforming loans are now below their precrisis levels.
https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/02/21/na022218-serbia-completes-successful-imf-program
මම ඕක දාන්න මෙච්චර පරක්කු වුනේ කුහක පක්ෂය ඕකෙනුත් ඇනගන්නකන්... හඳුන් නෙත්ති මෙන්න
------ Post added on Mar 30, 2023 at 5:58 PM
