James Roaf

In the first half of 2015, Serbia has recorded good fiscal results and a deficit below the projected level, IMF mission head James Roaf said on Tuesday.

Serbia's government on Thursday started technical talks with IMF representatives, led by James Roaf, on the second review of the IMF stand-by arrangement worth 1.2 billion euro.

In recent days, Serbia has said it will try obtain an agreement with the IMF to raise salaries and pensions.

But Muhamed Busatlija, an economist, said that was unlikely.

Bulgaria is at one of the leading positions in Central and Eastern Europe in macroeconomic stability, but needs reforms, said Guillermo Tolosa, the IMF representative to Bulgaria and Romania, quoted by the BTA wire service.

"There is enough proof for the close relation between reforms and convergence, even if the effect of the reforms is not immediately visible," Tolosa said.