The global rating agency Fitch Ratings has upgraded Serbia's long-term credit rating from negative to stable, the Serbian Finance Ministry released in a statement on Friday.

Serbia received a stable credit rating for the first time since December 2008, and thus created conditions for lower borrowing costs, the statement reads.

The Serbian government laid a foundation for smaller budget deficit in the years to come, and the new fiscal rules are aimed at reducing deficit to one percent of the GDP by 2015, from 4.8 percent in 2010, the report reads.

The agency expects this year's GDP growth in Serbia to be 1.5 percent, and the prognosis for 2011 is 3-percent growth.