BELGRADE -- The NBS is convinced that the inflation rate will remain under ten percent until the end of the year.

National Bank of Serbia Governor Radovan Jelašić said that after years of struggling with high inflation rates, the goal of the NBS will be to keep inflation for this year in between seven and nine percent and to bring it down to six percent next year.

Vladimir Gligorov of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies told B92 that it is realistic to predict that the inflation rate will be in between ten and nine percent at the end of the year, when looking at the inflations rates in between December of last year and December of this year.

“If you look at it year by year, then 13 percent is realistic, and if the inflation rate increases in the fall, then you can expect it to be in between 13 and 15 percent. When inflation decreases, the average inflation rate decreases somewhat slower than the marginal inflation.” Gligorov said.

“It should be noted that there is a lot of manipulation with the rate of the euro. Earlier the political rate and inflation were controlled by the financing of the budget, which is for the most part was financed by the budget. Now, however, there is no problem with the excess of funds from international sources, from privatisation, and so inflation can be placed under control. If this is done, then a positive effect can be expected for the stability of the exchange rate because then, in relation to the important funds coming from abroad, there should be no changes as far as the exchange rate is concerned.” Gligorov said.