The latest Eurostat data confirm that the country’s economic policy is correct, because Serbia has the smallest drop in GDP in Europe in the third quarter of this year.
– The decline in Serbia’s GDP in the third quarter compared to last year is 1.3 percent, and that is an excellent result, especially considering that the decline in the eurozone is 4.4 percent, and that all other countries in Europe are individually had a much larger decline. This is officially confirmed by the European Bureau of Statistics in its report today – said Sinisa Mali, Minister of Finance in the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
He assessed that the result of Serbia is excellent and that it shows how resilient the domestic economy has become and that it manages to withstand the economic consequences of the crisis.
Milan Kovacevic, a consultant for foreign investments, says that this is great news and that we must try to maintain such a situation.
– It is quite certain that it is great news, but we must maintain it. It will also be very important how the situation in the countries of the European Union will unfold and how much their GDP will fall, because our exports go up to 60% to these countries – Kovacevic points out.
Economist Hasan Hanic says that the smallest drop in GDP was registered in Serbia.
– It’s good. On the one hand, our economy does not depend on branches like tourism, which is most affected by the corona virus epidemic. On the other hand, great measures were taken to help companies and individuals, which gave results – says Dr. Hanic.
Businessmen are also moderately optimistic regarding business expectations and turnover growth in the last quarter of 2020, and for most, domestic demand and exports are key to improving business, the latest quarterly analysis of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce showed.
The analysis showed that businessmen plan to increase or keep investments at the same level, mostly in equipment, and count on stable employment, so that 94% of respondents do not expect a reduction in the number of employees. 884 companies from various sectors of the economy participated in the quarterly survey, and despite the uncertainty due to the pandemic for the fourth quarter of 2020, 41 percent of respondents have positive business expectations, mostly in the food industry and trade.
Our economy was also addressed by USAID, whose survey of “1,000 companies” found that the Serbian economy in the crisis caused by the pandemic showed a “traditional dose of resilience”, which is not only a consequence of persistence, struggle for survival and spite, but also a better understanding of digital world and business.
– In these changed working conditions, domestic companies have made better use of external sources of financing and better managed finances. The impact of the corona virus and the growth of e-commerce have marked the past year. Despite companies being hit by falling profits and revenues, most retained the same number of employees as before the crisis, aided by state measures. The research shows that the intention of most companies in the coming period is to keep the level of employment at the same level – said Dragana Stanojevic, director of Usaid’s project of cooperation for economic development.
She pointed out that in the survey, which is a “mirror of the Serbian economy”, it was noticed that more than half of the companies have only one manager, as well as that only 12 percent of them employ more than 20 workers. Also, it was found that the share of women decreases with the growth of the size of the company.
– It also turned out that every fourth domestic company exports, as well as that only 10 percent of placements go outside the borders of our country. These findings are almost identical to those made in the last 10 years, as well as the finding that companies mostly operate in the place where they are located – Stanojevic pointed out.
Traffic growth
More than half of the surveyed companies, 56 percent, achieved a growth in turnover in the third quarter of 2020, while 22 percent of the respondents recorded unchanged turnover. This indicates a significant recovery in business activity compared to the second quarter.
The boom of e-commerce
Usaid’s research showed that this year brought a real e-commerce revolution.
– As many as 82 percent of respondents estimated that their web shop has become more important than a physical store, and those companies that have highly developed financial literacy, that are digitally present on the market and invest in digital marketing are still growing the fastest. This is more typical of large than small and medium enterprises. However, both small and medium-sized companies showed great fighting spirit during the pandemic, and every fifth company from that group grew – Dragana Stanojevic revealed, Vesti Online reports.
