Economic and financial relations of Serbia with foreign countries in the period 2000-2003

The dissolution of the federation, war in the immediate environment, the UN sanctions, scarce investment as well as the NATO air-attacks had disastrous consequences for trade and financial relations of Serbia with foreign countries. Simultaneously, its foreign debt rose sharply due to the accrued interests, being at the end of 2000 substantially higher than Serbian gross domestic product. Thanks to the write-off of 51% of debt towards the Paris club, a windfall of donations and obtaining new favorable medium-term and long-term credits, the condition of Serbia's international financial relations considerably improved in the period 2001-2003, thus enabling it to run a foreign-exchange surplus during this period. Due to the policy of de facto floating exchange rate, sudden and drastic liberalization of imports and the lack of non-tariff protection, exports of goods and services in the last three years, contrary to plans, have increased much more slowly than imports, resulting in a large increase in growth and an enormously high level of trade deficit unsustainable in the long run. Due to new credits euro-denominated and other foreign-currency denominated debts being converted into the increasingly weaker dollar and the accrual of interests Serbian foreign debt increased sharply reaching an all-time high at the end of last year and being twice as high as was officially predicted three years before. The level of foreign debt is very high. Trade deficit and foreign indebtedness have become the most serious problems of Serbian economy and unless appropriate measures are taken, it will soon face a serious debt crisis