PARIS Yugoslavia will soon be admitted to international financial institutions as a sign of approval of the new government in Belgrade, AFP quoted the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as saying Tuesday.
"The international community will make the first step by admitting Yugoslavia to the International Monetary Fund and the EBRD," Jean Lemiere said ahead of a meeting of international lenders in Paris to review aid to the Balkan country.
"That will be followed by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank," he added.
He said Yugoslavia would likely join the EBRD by the end of the year.
The meeting in Paris is under the aegis of the high level steering group (HLSG) on southeast Europe which is cochaired by the European Union and the World Bank, and brings together the G8 countries as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the EBRD and the United Nations.
It will be the first HLSG meeting since the removal from power of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.
European officials said no announcement of new aid was expected to supplement the 180 million euros ($154 million) already confirmed by the European Commission, and much smaller amounts offered by France and Britain.
"Donors agree that the longer-term challenge is how to secure the difficult transformation from an administrative to a market economy.
The task is of course complicated by a decade of economic mismanagement, under-investment and wars," the HLSG said in a statement.
The meeting comes as Yugoslavia hosts its first meeting of another regional grouping aimed at sponsoring economic development, the Balkans stability pact. And next week the first summit of heads of government from the European Union and the countries of former Yugoslavia and Albania will be held in Zagreb.