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Agence française de développement (AFD) finances two new operations to accompany Serbia’s key institutions in aligning public policies and actions with a low-carbon growth trajectory, in line with national priorities. The projects were signed on 30 June 2023 by AFD and the Republic of Serbia.
The first project is the “Green Agenda Programmatic Development Policy Loan”, prepared in partnership with the World Bank and the German Development Bank (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, KfW). AFD’s financing, amounting to €135 million, is the first in a programmatic series of two operations, that will accelerate the adoption of key public policy reforms in the macro-fiscal, energy and environment areas, to support Serbia in its journey towards achieving a greener and more inclusive economic growth.
The second project, entitled “Improving Public Financial Management for the Green Transition”, jointly prepared with the World Bank, is attached to a €69.6 million AFD financing that will support the development of institutional and organizational capabilities of the main Serbian governmental institutions involved in the implementation of Serbia’s Green Agenda.
AFD’s support package comprise a €0.3 million technical cooperation program steering the elaboration and implementation of a green budget tagging methodology, with the mobilization of reference French public actors to present the benchmark experience of France in the area. This exercise will enable to better measure and monitor the public expenditures that contribute to the objectives of the Green Agenda for Western Balkans, as implemented in Serbia, in order to build transparency and accountability, and to inform successive budgetary elaboration process.
“These two complementary programs reflects the authorities' ambition to be at the forefront in implementing innovative, environmentally-friendly and inclusive models of public action, and significantly increase budgetary efforts in favor of the ecological transition in Serbia,” said Dominique Hautbergue, AFD Regional Director for the Western Balkans.
“As AFD, we are excited to support these impactful programs, and proud to respond to Serbia’s specific request to mobilize the French experience on green fiscal transition. This rich cooperation contributes to enabling Serbia’s commitments under the European Union integration process and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We will continue to be there for our Serbian partners on this common journey on the Green Agenda train.”
Press contact:
Marija Stankovic : +381 11 78 58 830