WORLD BANK: Serbia to see economy growth of 1.5% in 2016

Countries of the Western Balkans can expect their economies to grow 1.5 and 2.5 percent this and next year, respectively, while Serbia will register a negative growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) of 0.5% in 2015 and a 1.5% growth in 2016, the World Bank assessed in its recently published Global Economic Prospects Report for June 2015.
Growth in the Western Balkans is expected to be a modest 1.5 percent in 2015, up from 0.4 percent in 2014, as a pick-up in net exports is expected to offset slowing investment and consumption. For Bosnia-Herzegovina, the World Bank forecasts a growth of 2% in 2015 and 2.3% in 2016, while Macedonia is expected to see a growth of 3.5 and 3.8% in the next two years. According to the World Bank, the economy of Montenegro will grow 3.4% this year and 2.9% next year, while Croatia's economy will see a growth of 0.5% in 2015 and 1.2% in 2016.

The Western Balkans remain weighed down by the lack of new credit and non-performing loans are the highest in the ECA region (above 16 percent), the Report reads.
When it comes to the banking system in Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania and Albania, it is still in danger from the influence of Greek crisis due to presence of numerous local offices of Greek banks, it is underlined in the Report.

The World Bank also mentioned last year's floods in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in its report, stressing that they allegedly destroyed 15% of GDP of Bosnia-Herzegovina and 2% of Serbia's GDP.

Svetska Banka-WB Beograd

World Bank

economic growth of Serbia

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