The new wave of the global economic crisis has not started to spill over Serbia yet, but all necessary measures for the optimal mitigation of the crisis impact should be taken, since such a wave in combination with the current problems could have devastating consequences on the Serbian economy, it was stated at Tanjug's panel on the second wave of the global economic crisis on Wednesday.

The participants of Tanjug news agency's roundtable entitled 'Is Serbia ready for the second wave of the economic crisis?' stressed that that a new arrangement with the IMF would be of great importance for the mitigation of a possible wave of the economic crisis, since it would assure all foreign investors that the country is implementing a credible economic policy.

Serbian Minister of Economy and Regional Development Nebojsa Ciric stated that so far there is no indication that the new wave of the global economic crisis has started to spill over Serbia, but added that the Serbian government will organize a new meeting with representatives of the economic sector and banks in early September to propose measures for mitigation of the possible negative effects of the crisis.

Chairman of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Milos Bugarin expressed concern that the new wave of the economic crisis will have a negative impact on Serbia's economy regardless of the fact that this time it has a different character and it is connected to public debt problems.

He underlined that since the character of the crisis is known, the state has to react timely and keep a constant dialogue with the business community.

Economic Advisor to the Serbian prime minister Jurij Bajec said Wednesday that Serbia must strictly respect the economic policy framework agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and defined by law, particularly in the area related to fiscal policy and limiting budget deficit.

Bajec pointed to the importance of concluding the precautionary arrangement between Serbia and the IMF, especially because potential investors attach great importance to whether a country pursues credible economic policy in times of crisis.

The main problem in Serbia at this moment is how to secure the growth of employment and increase the standard of the citizens, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences Zoran Stojiljkovic stated.

He pointed out that the public companies have to free from the impact of the ruling parties in order to improve their business.

Editor of www.ekonomija.org Miroslav Zdravkovic stated Wednesday that the Serbian companies, which are affected by the inability to export goods to Kosovo-Metohija, should be assisted to finds alternative export markets.