The head of the World Bank office in Belgrade, Stephen Ndegwa, stated that Serbia will have the smallest decline in economic activity in the Western Balkans this year.
As he stated, it will amount to minus three percent, which is much less than what is expected for the European Union.
He assessed that the Serbian economy did relatively well during the pandemic compared to other countries.
“In the coming period, the economic recovery will be stronger, and the prospects for growth will be better if Serbia seizes the opportunity to breathe new energy into the economy by implementing important reforms,” he said.
Ndegwa assessed that the Serbian result was achieved thanks to a generous package of fiscal incentives, which is comparable to the packages in much richer countries.
“Activities in some sectors have been better than expected, for example in agriculture, which has pretty much prevented a deeper recession this year,” he said.
He expects the economy to recover in 2021, and the development of many events is not under the control of Serbia.
He adds that in order for the recovery of the Serbian economy to happen, the Government of Serbia should implement an ambitious set of reforms, which is defined in the exposition of Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and the report of the World Bank “New Agenda for Economic Growth of Serbia”.
“Only reforms can enable the Serbian economy to emerge from the crisis stronger and better prepared for new challenges,” he stressed.
In an interview with Kurir, Ndegwa said that the reform of state-owned companies in Serbia has been waiting for a long time, and added that the economy should be prepared for future “green growth” leading to clean energy, better waste management and environmentally safe agriculture.
He assessed that during the crisis, all countries tried to provide support to companies and citizens, so Serbia did the same.
“One of the lessons for Serbia is that better targeted assistance is needed. Budget resources are being depleted and the support provided should be more selective,” he concluded.
