November 7 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) lowered on Tuesday its projection for Serbia's 2017 economic growth to 1.8% from 2.9% envisaged in May.
"The slowdown is a consequence both of the summer drought which badly affected the agriculture sector, and difficulties in the mining and electricity generation, sectors which are dominated by state-owned companies," the lender noted in its latest Regional Economic Prospects report.
Serbia's economy is projected to accelerate to 2.9% in 2018, supported by the low base, stronger consumption and investments, with offsetting effects from higher imports.
Although fiscal performance has continued to be better than envisaged, with a budget surplus in January-August 2017, the slowdown of fiscal as well as structural reforms is the main downside risk to the projection, the bank noted.
The EBRD predicts economic growth in Southeastern Europe (SEE) to stand at 3.6% in 2017 and 3.3% next year.