April 14 (SeeNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday it expects Bosnia's GDP to shrink 5% this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and to expand by 3.5% in 2021.
In October, the Fund lowered its 2020 economic growth forecast for Bosnia to 2.6% from 3.2% anticipated earlier.
Bosnia is expected to face average consumer price deflation of 0.6% this year, before recording average inflation of 1.4% in 2021, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook report. At the same time, the end-year deflation is also seen at 0.6% in 2020, while the end-2021 inflation is projected at 1.2%.
This year, Bosnia's current account gap is anticipated to widen to 7.5% of GDP from last year's 3.6% of GDP. In 2021, the current account deficit is expected to somewhat weaken to 5.5% of GDP, the Fund said.
In the IMF report, Bosnia is included in the Emerging and Developing Europe region, whose economy is seen shrinking 5.2% this year and rising 4.2% in 2021.