In May 2017, Serbia’s public debt stood at around 24.06 billion EUR which is 67.1% of the national GDP – the Ministry of Finance announces.
Last month, the public debt fell by 100 million EUR relative to April when it amounted to 24.16 billion EUR while its share in the national GDP also fell by 0.6% compared to the month before.
At the end of last year, the country’s public debt was around 24.82 billion EUR, or 72.9% of the GDP.
Serbia’s Budget System Law regulates that the share of the public debt in the national GDP should not exceed 45%.
As far as the economic activity in the first quarter of this year goes, it was only 1.2% and it has considerably slowed down. In comparison, the growth in the old EU member states was 2.3%, and 4.1% in the new member states – said the editor-in-chief of Quarterly Monitor magazine, Milojko Arsic.
In the same period, the neighbouring countries recorded a 3.2% economic growth.
“Only three countries recorded a lower growth than Serbia – the politically unstable Macedonia, Greece and Switzerland”, said Arsic.
He added that the slowdown was due to “systemic weaknesses”, primarily in the inadequate management of public enterprises, including the Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS), including the unfavourable economic environment.
This year, as he pointed out, Serbia’s economic growth is expected to be between 2.5 and 3%.
The Serbian economy generated a net profit last year of 253 billion dinars (6% of the national GDP) which is much higher than the previous years due to a more intense economic activity, lower prices of energy products, and lower interest rate costs.
(Blic, 29.06.2017)
http://www.blic.rs/vesti/ekonomija/javni-dug-srbije-oboren-u-maju-na-671-odsto-bdp-a/35lfsf5
http://www.blic.rs/vesti/ekonomija/arsic-srbija-usporila-privredni-rast/n88j94k
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