Serbian Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic announced Tuesday that the government will discuss the 2011 budget bill at a regular session set for Thursday, adding that the budget will have a deficit of 4.1 percent of the GDP and be harmonized with the Fiscal Responsibility Law.

Dragutinovic told reporters that it was agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the government will not debate the bill at an extraordinary session, but at its regular session on Thursday.

At a working lunch organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at the Hyatt Hotel in Belgrade, she said that she expects "some ministries will be dissatisfied with the distribution of budget funds, same as every year."

The minister added that she expects that on December 22, the IMF Board of Directors will approve the sixth review under Serbia's Stand-by Arrangement which expires in April 2011.

Asked if a new arrangement will be signed with the IMF when the current one ends, the minister added that she personally supports a "precautionary arrangement", explaining that this would mean continued cooperation with the Fund, but without the obligation of taking out new loans, because "Serbia's foreign exchange reserves are sufficient."


Dinkic: Draft budget for 2011 to be filed to government soon

Serbian Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic stated on Tuesday that the Ministry of Finance has not yet submitted the draft budget for 2011 to the government, but added that he has been informed this will be done soon.

At a news conference in Sombor, Dinkic said that the Ministry of Economy has already prepared its draft budget, as agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said that the way the budget will be designed depends on the Finance Ministry, which should submit the draft to the government, and after the government adopts it, the Ministry should forward it to the parliament.

“According to the agreement with the IMF, we defined the key budget parameters. Now the question remains of the document's structure itself. The budget should be adopted by Tuesday, as agreed with the IMF,” Dinkic said.