According to the EBRD’s latest economic outlook, presented at the EBRD 2016 Annual Meeting in London by the bank’s acting chief economist, Hans Peter Lankes, on Wednesday, Serbia’s economic growth forecasts remained at 1.8 percent and 2.3 percent for this and next year, respectively.
A Tanjug reporter attending the EBRD meeting said Lankes had observed that the Serbian economy was experiencing a trend of positive growth, created by increased demand from the EU, investments and recovery of exports.
The forecast for the coming year could change for the better under the influence of an increase in production at Zelezara Smederevo, recently privatized by a Chinese partner, within the framework of the ambitious plans announced, Lankes said.
The EBRD say that increased production at the Serbian steelworks could raise the country’s GDP growth in 2017 from the current 2.3 percent by additional one to 1.5 percentage points.