BELGRADE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Serbia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could conclude a new arrangement this summer, according to an official statement released here after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's meeting with an IMF delegation on Friday.
Vucic met the IMF mission led by James Roaf to talk about the previous three-year arrangement that ended this February, as well as the details of the new arrangement and the increase of salaries in the public sector and pensions.
According to the release, Vucic expressed his expectation that the new agreement between Serbia and IMF will be concluded "during the summer", without revealing details.
"Serbia remains dedicated to the path of economic reforms in cooperation with the IMF," he said at the meeting.
Vucic stressed that the growth this year will be based on investments, export and spending, and expressed his readiness to talk with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic about ways to increase pensions and means for capital investments.
IMF mission confirmed its expectation that Serbia will this year reach the predicted growth rate of 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), or even more, as well as that country will have a significant surplus.
Roaf told Vucic that after the successful three-year precautionary agreement that ended recently, Serbian economy will continue to grow on healthy foundations.
The two sides have agreed to work together on the privatization of large state enterprises, and that all of them should get new strategic partners by the end of the year.