PODGORICA (Montenegro), October 30 (SeeNews) – Montenegro's economy may contract by up to 17% in 2020 due to the adverse effects of the coronavirus crisis, the country's central bank has said.
"The projection is characterised by a relatively high degree of uncertainty and is subject to continuous updating," the central bank said in a statement following a regular meeting of its governing council on Thursday.
In its Europe and Central Asia Economic Update Fall 2020 published earlier this month, the World Bank downgraded its projection for the decline of Montenegro's economy to 12.4% in 2020 from a 5.6% contraction envisaged in June.
According to the projection of the World Bank, Montenegro's economy will suffer the sharpest decline among the countries in the Western Balkans in 2020 as a result of the country's limited fiscal buffers and high dependence on tourism.