BELGRADE, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Serbia will achieve economic growth of 3.5 percent in 2019 and 4 percent in 2020, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation estimated on Monday in Belgrade, after meeting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
The visit of the delegation led by the head of the mission Jan Kees Martijn started on May 10 and will end on May 21. The IMF delegation also met with Serbian government officials and representatives of the National Bank of Serbia.
"During the meeting, representatives of the IMF confirmed a stable projection of economic growth of 3.5 percent for this year and 4 percent for 2020," read a press release from the office of the President of Serbia published after the meeting.
"President Vucic emphasized that Serbia's goal is to achieve higher growth than projected despite the slowed down economic growth in the countries of the European Union and global challenges," the release read.
A special topic of interest for the citizens of Serbia was salaries and pensions, and the discussion confirmed that Serbia's responsible policy and stable economic growth create space to increase them further.
Moreover, the two sides stressed the importance of efficient management and better realization of investments in public companies, as well as the privatization of the remaining state enterprises.
On May 16, Martjin discussed with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on the implementation of the current Policy Coordination Instrument arrangement between Serbia and IMF, which relates to the reform of tax administration, public salaries, and public companies.
