He told the national broadcaster that he met with Sheikh Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Crown Prince, in Scotland and asked him for the loan at the lowest interest rate for 20 or 30 years.
That would be almost a gift. The money would be used to repay the toughest loans and relieve the public debt, which the International Monetary Fund would support, while the rest would be injected into the economy. After that it will be clear that Serbia has survived and moved on, Vucic said.
He was confident that the loan would enable Serbia to reach an arrangement with the IMF, improve its economic image in the world, and join the World Trade Organisation by the end of this year.
Vucic said Serbia had to pay about EUR 1 billion in interest on foreign loans next year and that it needed another EUR 1 billion for subsidies as well as EUR 6 billion for pensions and social requirements.
He underlined the importance of reforms "for Serbia's survival, saying the reshuffled cabinet would try to reduce unemployment, change tax rates and create a better business climate. He said reforms must not be to the detriment of the socially most sensitive, for whom special measures would be adopted.
"The public debt has reached 65 per cent of GDP. People must know what is going on," Vucic added.