The World Bank has eased its estimate of Serbia’s GDP decline in 2020 to two percent.
In the just published global economic forecasts, the World Bank softened the estimate of the fall in the GDP of Serbia to 2 percent in relation to the June projection of minus 2.5.
The international creditor predicts in the document “Global Economic Perspectives”, published today on the official website of the World Bank, that Serbia will grow by 3.1 percent in 2021, and then accelerate to 3.4 percent in 2022.
Serbian economy growth forecast for 2021 reduced by 0.9 percentage points compared to June.
At the same time, the WB worsened its estimate of the economic decline of the Western Balkans region by 1.3 percentage points last year, to minus 4.5 percent compared to the June 2020 estimate.
It also expects weaker growth in the region in 2021 of 3.5 percent, which is 1.1 percent less than it predicted this summer, while it forecasts growth of 3.7 percent for next year.
As for the surrounding countries, this financial institution now estimates the decline in Croatia’s GDP last year at minus 8.6 percent, or 0.7 percentage points milder than the original forecast, for the current year forecasts growth of 5.4 percent, the same as before, and for 2022 growth of 4.2 percent.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s GDP projection for 2020 has deteriorated by 0.8 percent, to minus 4 percent, and the growth forecast for 2021 has been reduced by 0.6 percentage points to 2.8 percent.
The World Bank also “deepened” the forecast of Montenegro’s decline for the past year by 9.3 percent, to minus 14.9 percent, while in 2021 it increased the expected growth rate by 1.3 percentage points at 6.1 percent.
According to the World Bank, the rate of economic decline in Northern Macedonia last year will be higher than previously thought by 3.0 percentage points and will amount to minus 5.1 percent, and the projection of economic expansion for the current year has worsened by 0.3 percentage points to plus 3.6 percent.
The World Bank also estimates that the decline of the Kosovo economy in 2020 is 4.2 percentage points higher than previously projected and will amount to minus 8.8 percent, and has lowered the projected growth in Kosovo and Metohija in 2021 by 1.1 percentage points to 3.7 percent, B92 reports.
