Serbian PM, Ana Brnabic hopes that Serbia’s economic growth will be 2.5% this year, and that the government’s short-term measures are at least partially going to compensate for the sluggish GDP growth due to the drought.
“Short-term measures could boost GDP growth by between 0.2% and 0.3%. The good news is that all other economic indicators are good. The export has been growing at the rate of between 10% and 12%, while the growth in the processing industry has been between 6% and 8%”, the PM says.
She also reminds that, last year, economic growth amounted to 2.8%, adding that she hopes that this year’s growth will be at least 2.5%.
The government has prepared 11 projects with the aim of cushioning the effect of a slow GDP growth which are supposed to be implemented by the year-end. These include cleaning up water canals, higher subsidies for procurement of tractors and other agricultural equipment, and infrastructure projects for which building permits have already been issued.
The drought, the very cold winter in the beginning of 2017, and the problems in thermo-sector have all contributed to GDP growing slower than expected.
On another note, the PM says that digitalization and IT will be the new driving forces behind economic growth in Serbia, and thanks to these two, young people will be more motivated not to emigrate.
When asked what were the government’s plans to stop the brain drain, Brnabic said that laws had to be changed and business environment had to be more predictable. She also cited the example of the Physics Institute which has managed to bring some of the young and talented people back to Serbia by offering them appealing working conditions. “They did not offer them high salaries, but rather fantastic working conditions, good equipment and projects that will enable them to advance”, Brnabic said at a press conference in Belgrade.
(Vecernje Novosti, 21.08.2017)
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