Serbia breaches a deal with IMF

The International Monetary Fund said Serbia has breached its stand-by funding agreement by allocating more than previously agreed sum for public sector wages in its 2010 budget.

Serbia has allocated 120 million euros more than pre-agreed with the Fund, B92 quoted the IMF Resident Representative in Serbia, Bogdan Lissovolik, as saying.

Lissovolik said he was concerned that Serbia might not fulfill the second part of the deal, which envisages lay-off of 8,000 public administration employees.

The government prolonged the agreed deadline for public sector job cuts, and some ministries consider the option of reemploying the redundant staff to other positions.

“We are concerned over reports that the rationalization of public administration has been postponed but also because there is a risk that these steps will be implemented only partially,” Lissovolik is quoted as saying.