Moody's: Robust economic growth, significant fiscal adjustment

NEW YORK - The US credit rating agency Moody's has announced it expected Serbia's general government fiscal deficit to be 2.3 pct in 2016 amid continued increases in tax collection and public sector reforms.

Supported by an acceleration of real GDP growth by 2.7 pct this year, from 0.8 pct in 2015, the debt-to-GDP ratio will stabilise at around 75 pct in 2016, it said in a report.

"The positive outlook on Serbia's B1 rating reflects partly the systemic overhaul under the three-year IMF stand-by-arrangement, which had yielded robust economic growth and significant fiscal adjustments," the report said.

"Still, the debt-to-GDP ratio remains very high relative to peers at an expected 75 pct by the end 2016 and the still high proportion of foreign-currency denominated debt adds foreign-exchange risk to its debt repayment profile", Moody's said.