01 March 2019 - Prime Minister of Montenegro Duško Marković met with the new Head of the International Monetary Fund Mission to Montenegro Srikant Seshadri. The Government of Montenegro has achieved success and made a major turn in strengthening the economy and stabilising public finances, it was noted at the meeting.
Prime Minister Marković pointed to the growth of the economy in 2017 and 2018 at rates of over 4.5 percent, deficit reduction, the better revenue side of the budget, reduction in unemployment and strong inflow of foreign direct investments that contributed to the creation of new jobs.
Seshadri congratulated the Prime Minister on the Government's successes and estimated that the positive response to the achieved results was also given by the international market, which answered positively to Montenegro's issuance of Eurobonds last year.
"We achieved an excellent result, above expectations. However, numerous challenges lie ahead of us and we have to answer them first and foremost through strong and comprehensive structural reforms - in the field of public administration, health, education, pension system and social policy," PM Marković said.
Seshadri agreed that Montenegro needs structural reforms and improved management, and in that context, the meeting exchanged views on the challenges and opportunities in those processes.
The Prime Minister thanked the International Monetary Fund for the technical support it provides to the Montenegrin institutions and added that it was precious given the limited administrative capacity and insufficient knowledge of certain complex reforms that need to be implemented.
Seshadri promised continued support of the International Monetary Fund and assessed that Montenegro could have higher growth rates in view of its potentials.
