The government said Dusan Vujovic’s departure was due to personal reasons. He was quoted by Balkan Insight, a Balkan investigative reporting network, as saying that the four years he spent in the government was “quite enough for a man to prove himself in public office”.

The central bank said the talks with IMF got under way on Monday, which included new funding arrangements in exchange for reforms to boost economic growth.

The minister said last month that he expects the government’s new arrangements with the IMF to help Serbia achieve macroeconomic and fiscal stability.

Vujovic has been in politics since 1974, when he was an assistant in the Institute for International Politics and Commerce in Belgrade.

He has also worked for the World Bank.

In April 2014, he was elected minister of commerce and in August that year he became the finance minister.

He has negotiated a €1.2bn three-year loan deal with the IMF that Serbia completed in February.

The European Union announced earlier this year that the bloc’s membership would be open to all Western Balkan nations, if they meet the criteria of membership.