Mali: October inflation down to 8.5 pct

BELGRADE - Serbia's Deputy PM and Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said on Tuesday Serbian October inflation had been at 8.5 pct according to a flash estimate.

"From 10.2 pct in September, inflation fell to 8.5 pct in October, much more quickly than it had been expected. That is great news and I want to congratulate Serbian citizens because this is a great success for all of us," Mali told reporters during a tour of the new main building of the Tax Administration in Belgrade's municipality of Zemun.

Mali noted that inflation had been expected to drop to single figures in December but that it was evident that all measures taken in the past few months to curb it had already produced results.

"Our inflation expectations are lower and the decline of inflation is much higher than we expected," Mali said.