Serbia has ensured financial liquidity for January and February and will not have to venture into financial markets in the event of an energy crisis, finance minister Sinisa Mali said, write seenews.com
A massive power outage that left 126,000 people without electricity and rising gas prices on international markets prompted the government to discuss the country’s readiness to avert a possible energy crisis. A video of the government session was uploaded by state news agency Tanjug.
The finance ministry “stands ready to react,” Mali told president Aleksandar Vucic during the session when asked if the finance ministry would be able to allocate funds to avert a possible energy crisis.
“We have absolute liquidity,” Mali said during the government session, adding that the country’s public debt will be one percentage point lower than previously projected and amount to 57.2% of Serbia’s gross domestic product.
At its latest auction on Tuesday, the finance ministry sold 35 million dinars worth of five-and-a-half-year Treasury bonds. The yield came in at 2.5%, up from 2.1% achieved at the previous successful auction of the issue held on October 12.
Speaking at the same government session, central bank governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic said that oil and gas companies NIS and Srbijagas, along with public power utility EPS, are ready to put additional 250 million euro towards energy imports, after having spent “more than half a billion euro” for the same purpose. She did not provide any further details.
