Quarterly Monitor: Projection of Serbian GDP Drop in 2020 Still 3%

In 2020, Serbia might experience a drop of the GDP by 3%, and although the latest data show that the result could be better, the projection should be kept for now due to the uncertainty related to the epidemic by the end of the year, it was said this Friday during the presentation of the latest issue of the Quarterly Monitor, a publication of the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade and the Foundation for the Advancement of Economics (FREN).

– The economy of Serbia, similar to other European economies, worsened considerably in the second quarter of 2020. There was a drop of the GDP by 6.4%, the exports and the imports dropped by around 20%, and foreign direct investments dropped by 35%. In the same period, there was a large increase of the fiscal deficit and the public debt – said the editor-in-chief of the Quarterly Monitor, Milojko Arsic.

He reminded that the lower drop of the economy in Serbia compared to other countries was the result of the fact that Serbia had entered the crisis with a slightly larger growth rate, but also the fact that, as a less developed state, the production of vital supplies such as food and drinks has a greater share in the structure of the economy, whereas the share of more permanent and investment goods is lower, and the share of products related to epidemiology risks, such as tourist services, is not large either.

– Still, if we compare these results with results in other European countries, we can say that the results of the Serbian economy in this period are slightly better – Arsic said.

He pointed out that, for Serbia and other European countries, it was important that there had been a relatively significant improvement of the economic situation since June.

Ekonomski fakultet Beograd

Fondacija za razvoj ekonomske nauke Beograd

Faculty of Economics in Belgrade

FREN

Quarterly Monitor

Milojko Arsić

GDP of Serbia

GDP drop

gross domestic product

fiscal deficit