International economics

"Serbia wants precautionary arrangement with IMF"

BELGRADE -- The level of Serbia's foreign exchange reserves is sufficiently high so it will not be looking for an arrangement with the IMF "that would imply taking loans."

Instead, Serbia wants a precautionary arrangement, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Jorgovanka Tabaković said on Monday.

"EUR 200 million for 100 most important projects"

BELGRADE -- Serbia will have access to EUR 200 million from EU's IPA funds for the 100 strategically most important projects over the next seven years.

BELGRADE - Serbia will have access to EUR 200 million from the EU Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) funds for the 100 strategically most important projects over the next seven years.

The project list was prepared by a working body in cooperation with the European Integration Office and relevant ministries, monthly Nova ekonomija reports.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a USD 17.1 B bailout for Ukraine to help the country's economy.

The loan is dependent on strict economic reforms, including raising taxes and energy prices.

The money will be released over two years, with the first installment of USD 3.2 B available immediately.

By Alexis Papachelas

Former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou issued a statement on Tuesday denying claims that the International Monetary Fund’s ex-Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn had insisted that the Greek debt be restructured as part of the bailout deal signed in May 2010.

Bulgaria will host the annual meetings between the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank next year.

The government decided on Tuesday to accept an existing proposal according to which the IMF-WB meetings could take place in Bulgaria, Dnevnik.bg has reported.

"Agreement with IMF by end of June"

BELGRADE -- Aleksandar Vučić has said that an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be reached by the end of June.

The SNS leader and the next prime minister added that the solidarity tax will be scrapped and that a budget review will be done after a government is formed.

By Katerina Sokou

Structural reforms are the way out of the financial crisis for Greece, according to the International Monetary Fund, whose Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that «the journey is not over, there are still more structural reforms to implement and plenty of work to be done on the way."

By Constantine Passaris *

The agreement in principle of a free trade deal between Canada and the European