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- WORLD, Page 51World NotesYUGOSLAVIAThe More, The Messier
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- When the Serbian parliament found that it needed $1.8
- billion in cash last month, the ministers decided to get it the
- easy way -- they printed it. The catch: the Serbians acted in
- secret, without the approval of the central Yugoslav
- government, and then went ahead and spent the money. When news
- of the economic maneuver broke last week, it threatened to
- topple the regime of federal Prime Minister Ante Markovic. The
- disclosure also jeopardized his badly needed economic reforms,
- which have emphasized a tight credit policy to control
- inflation.
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- Serbia's actions accelerated the disintegration of federal
- power in Yugoslavia, where ethnic and nationalist conflicts
- have been festering for months. Serbia, the largest and most
- populous of the republics, advocates a strengthening of the
- federation. But Slovenia and Croatia are the most prosperous
- of the republics, and they have been threatening to secede if
- Yugoslavia is not transformed into a loose confederation of
- states. Last week's disclosures made them madder than ever.
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