Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic stated on Friday that macro-economic stability has been ensured in Serbia and would continue in the year to come as well, and added that the year of 2012 would be much better than 2011.

At the opening of the Summer Vivaldi Forum on the Mokra Gora Mountain, Cvetkovic pointed out that he is optimistic when it comes to Serbia's European integration. He said that the process is not merely a political issue and that its content is primarily economic, adding that this matter is of key importance for the country's economy and the living standard.

The PM underscored that a giant step has been made in the process of European integration over the last three years, since the constitution of the current government, and expressed expectation that Serbia would obtain the EU candidate status by the end of the year and that the date of accession talks would also be set by then.

Cvetkovic stated that the country's GDP is expected to increase by 3 per cent in 2011 and by 4.5 per cent in 2012, but these rates are still insufficient for the citizens to feel a notable change in terms of financial issues.

He underscored that this is the reason why the authorities need to continue working on opening new jobs and reducing unemployment.

Cvetkovic noted that Serbia has excellent relations with international financial institutions and most powerful countries such as China, Russia and the U.S. He announced that Serbia should close a precautionary arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to which some USD 1 billion would be set aside for unanticipated problems.

The Serbian PM said that it is not true that Serbia's loan takeout tendency has become excessive because this point was already established when the competent bodies adopted the budget and defined the deficit.