Serbia needs $2.0 bn for ’09 alone from IMF

BELGRADE, March 12  – Serbia will need $2.0 billion from the International Monetary Fund for 2009 alone and a new three-year loan deal with the lender would mean a lot more money to maintain stability, the central bank governor said on Thursday.

In a live interview with B92 radio, governor Radovan Jelasic said a failure to cut spending would push Serbia’s 2009 fiscal gap to 6 percent of GDP.
He also said the bank planned to ask 10 foreign-owned banks in Serbia to refinance about 3.0 billion euros in loans to corporates maturing this year.