IMF holds up Serb mission over pension move

The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it was holding up a mission to Belgrade after Serbia adopted a watered-down pension reform that disregarded agreed changes.
"The IMF mission scheduled to arrive in Belgrade on October 5 has been postponed for the time being," Harald Hirschhofer, the IMF resident representative in Belgrade, told Reuters.
"We are in the process of assessing the fiscal impact of the approved pension law in co-operation with the government," he said.
In a statement to local media, the Finance Ministry said talks were held up for a few days only "until the government assessed the fiscal impact".
The IMF told Serbia last week the mission, due in Belgrade for the final review of Serb policies and reforms under ongoing 2002-2005 extended financial facility, would come only if the new pension law strictly followed elements agreed in May.
Only a successful completion of the deal will bring Serbia further debt forgiveness from the Paris Club. The sovereign lenders gave Serbia a phased 66 percent write-off deal on $4.5 billion debt in 2001, with 51 percent relief at the start of the programme and 15 percent on its expiry.