Dragutinovic : Serbia wiil not end up like Greece

Belgrade, May 13. 2010 (Serbia Today)  - The economic situations in Serbia and Greece should not be compared, since Serbia’s public debt is not as extensive, claims the Serbian Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic. “Serbia’s public debt is not as great as in Greece” Dragutinovic said for daily “Vecernje novosti”. She added that the experience of Greece will be helpful, also pointing out that poor fiscal policies, not the financial crisis, led to Greece’s current situation.  Dragutinovic said that there must be a limit to how much debt a country can incur.  “That limit is 2.5 percent annually, to a maximum 40 percent of the gross domestic product,” Dragutinović said. Serbian Finance Minister  also announced  that Serbia is entering the new phase of talks wit IMF (beginning this week) in a very relaxed state, because it has fulfilled its tasks according to its IMF arrangement.  She announced an agreement with the IMF that pensions have to be harmonized three times by April 2012 according to wages in the public sector, and that they would then begin to be harmonized with the cost of living.