Dragan Djuricin, President of the Association of Economists of Serbia and professor at the Belgrade Faculty of Economy, stated on Sunday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has set serious requirements to Serbia for granting the country a positive assessment on the seventh revision of the stand-by arrangement, and noted that a new arrangement, which would be closed out of precaution, could turn into a financial one.

“I believe that these are serious requirements and we cannot negotiate with the creditor on his requests. If somebody gives you funds and you are supposed to continue using them, you have to agree to his terms,” Djuricin told Tanjug commenting on the conclusion of the talks with the IMF within the seventh revision of the arrangement.

Djuricin warned that the IMF sent a clear message, that a one-time salary hike for public sector salaries and pensions could potentially be granted but it would need to be in keeping with the rise of budget revenues and for the time being, there is no room for that.

“We should bear in mind that international financial organisations fund programmes aimed at structural adjustment of Serbian economy, which makes them our creditors and implies that the funds they provide always entail certain conditions,” Djuricin reminded.

These conditions, as he said, could be rigorous and are aimed at maintaining financial stability as the main precondition of sustainable development.

Djuricin believes that in case Serbia closes a new arrangement with the IMF, which would entail that the IMF would have the monitoring and advisory role, the arrangement would eventually turn into a strong form of cooperation and there would be another financial arrangement.