CURRENT AFFAIRS

NO MAJOR DISPUTES BETWEEN GOVT AND IMF

BELGRADE, Feb. 2 (Tanjug) –The disagreements between the Serbian government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as regards guarantees and debt limits are not so significant as to jeopardise the entire arrangement, Vladimir Vuckovic of the Fiscal Council stated on Thursday.He underscored that Serbia and IMF had had more substantial disagreements with IMF representatives before. There are certain disputes and different interpretations of the agreements reached so far, but the important thing is that the budget has been respected in terms of the planned revenues, expenditures and deficit, Vuckovic told Tanjug.It remains to be seen what IMF's real objections are and it is still uncertain what the response of the Serbian government would be and how seriously IMF would take the existing disagreements and differences, Vuckovic stated. Still, it cannot be anticipated what the international public would earmark as priority because this is the time when every negative step is closely examined and in this light, some negative consequences might follow, the official stated and expressed hope that the consequences would not be grave.The IMF mission arrived in Belgrade on Thursday and will conduct talks with Serbian government representatives. In the talks, representatives of IMF and the Serbian government should clarify all vague points regarding the precautionary arrangement and the 2012 budget.