Mali meets with World Bank's Alam

BELGRADE - Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali met with World Bank Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Asad Alam in Belgrade on Monday.

The parties said Serbia's economic performance was good and that there were no problems with any of the 14 projects the World Bank was involved in in Serbia.

Alam said the World Bank wanted to continue to support Serbia and that it was a model for providing similar backing to other countries that needed it.

Mali said support from the World Bank, the IMF, the EBRD and other international institutions was extremely important for Serbia.

"The stability provided by such support is important to Serbia, and we have built credibility by fulfilling all our promises," a statement released by the Finance Ministry quoted Mali as saying.

In difficult years, Serbia is finding sources of growth, which is important for the continuity of the economic results it aspires to, Mali said, adding that education and innovation would be the priority in the years to come because investing in people always paid off.

Mali gave a presentation of Serbia's achievements to date and noted that the country would host a specialised EXPO in 2027 - an umbrella and driving force of further growth, investment and development.

He noted that Serbia had registered 2.5 pct economic growth last year, taking its total GDP to 69 bln euros with a record-high FDI inflow of 4.5 bln euros, a record-low jobless rate of 9 pct and a record-high employment rate of 50.7 pct.