Just like a year ago, Serbia made the biggest progress in WEF’s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) in terms of macroeconomic indicators (by 31 positions).
The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) announced this on Thursday, noting that this came “largely due to low and stable inflation, lower budget deficit, increased share of national savings in GDP and the country’s improved credit rating.”
In terms of inflation, Serbia retained its top-ranked position in 2017, which it shares with 35 other countries, a statement said, adding that “under the inflation criterion, the best result is the average annual inflation of 0.5–2.9 percent, while deflation and high inflation are considered equally detrimental.”
“Owing to the NBS’s macroprudential policy and preserved financial stability, Serbia climbed 11 positions in terms of soundness of banks, thereby improving its ranking relative to financial market development indicators by nine positions,” the central bank said.
Serbia has also made progress (by 19 positions) in terms of the indicator of the protection of financial services consumers and the availability of financial services (by eight positions), as a result of the adoption of reform laws in the area of insurance, payment services and protection of financial services consumers, the statement concluded.
