IMF says mission to visit Serbia for loan talks

Under the deal with the IMF, Serbia agreed to keep salaries and pensions frozen in 2010 and to launch pension reform during the year.

BELGRADE, February 5, 2010 (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund said Friday it would send a mission to Serbia next week to assess the country's bid for a third installment of an IMF standby loan.

The mission, due to arrive for a two-week visit on Monday, is to review whether Serbia has met IMF-set requirements as part of the 3.0-billion-euro (4.0-billion-dollar) standby loan agreed in April, Zvezdana Marjanovic at IMF office in Belgrade told AFP.

Serbia has so far drown 1.15 billion euros in two installments.

Under the deal with the IMF, Serbia agreed to keep salaries and pensions frozen in 2010 and to launch pension reform during the year.

Serbia should also keep its 2010 budget deficit at 4.0 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Serbia has been battered by a sharp fall in foreign investment as a result of the global financial crisis. Its economy contracted 2.8 percent in 2009, but IMF forecasts a modest recovery and growth of 1.5 percent of the GDP.