The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has no exact plan as regards its representatives' visit to Serbia in the coming period, but they will certainly come to Belgrade in mid-2012 to have talks with a new government about the steps needed to continue with reviews of the arrangement, IMF Resident Representative in Belgrade Bogdan Lissovolik told Tanjug on Wednesday.

That is in line with the preliminary agreement mentioned in the Aide-Memoire, which was published following the IMF visit in February.

In order to continue to review the arrangement with Serbia, the IMF requires an agreement on legislative measures that would eliminate additional spending and debt increase, the Aide-Memoire underlines.

Although it is likely that this will happen after the elections, the government voiced readiness to keep the deficit and debt increase within the limits stipulated in the arrangement until the end of its term, with the aim of contributing to the preservation of trust in the sustainability of the fiscal policy, the IMF noted in February.

On that occasion, a preliminary agreement has been reached that the IMF mission should come back to Belgrade in mid-2012 to have talks with a new government on the steps required to continue with reviews.

The completion of the first review of the stand-by arrangement was postponed because the budget for 2012 is not in line with the agreed fiscal program, the IMF released.

In mid-November, 2011, the IMF and the Serbian government achieved an agreement on the first review of the precautionary arrangement which envisages that the targeted budget deficit should not exceed 4.25 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012, with the expectation that the economic growth will be 1.5 percent.

On September 29, the IMF approved the precautionary arrangement with Serbia worth EUR 1.1 billion (935.4 million of IMF special drawing rights). Serbia has no intent of using these funds, except in great need.