December 22 (SeeNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday it reduced its forecast for the real growth of Serbia’s economy in 2017 to 2.0%, due to the drought and electricity disruptions in the first half of the year.
The growth of Serbia's gross domestic product (GDP) is seen at 3.5% in 2018, the IMF said in the staff report under the eighth review of the stand-by arrangement (SBA) of the country.
In the staff report under the seventh review of the SBA issued in September, the IMF said it expects Serbia's economy to expand by 3.0% in 2017 and by 3.5% in 2018.
Serbia's GDP grew by 2.8% in 2016, the IMF said.
The consumer prices in Serbia are expected to increase by an annual average of 3.1% in 2017 and by 2.7% in 2018, after rising by 1.1% last year.
Serbia's current account balance, calculated as a percentage of GDP, is projected at negative 4.6% in 2017 and negative 4.2% in 2018.
Serbia's gross debt is expected to fall to 67.1% of GDP in 2017 from 73.1% in 2016 before declining further to 64.5% next year.