BELGRADE (Serbia), July 27 (SeeNews) – Serbia attracted 1.72 billion euro ($2.03 billion) in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of 2021, finance minister Sinisa Mali said.
It is particularly encouraging that the FDI figure is 19% higher on an annual comparison basis, Mali said in a press release on Monday following a meeting with the IMF resident representative in Serbia Sebastian Sosa.
The inflow of FDI into Serbia totalled $3.44 billion in 2020, while the total FDI registered in Southeastern Europe in the year of the COVID-19 pandemic amounted to $6.11 billion, according to a report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) last month, Serbia's Tanjug news agency reported.
Serbia achieved a real gross domestic product growth (GDP) of 1.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021, and expects its economy to grow by 12-15% in the second quarter, Mali said.
"With regard to the current developments, for this year we can even expect growth of 7%," he added.
The country's GDP shrank by 1.0% in 2020.
The new 30-month Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) for Serbia approved by the IMF in June represents another confirmation of the success of the country's economic policy, Mali said.
Reform priorities under the new PCI reflect the authorities’ policy and reform agenda, including anchoring the fiscal policy framework, strengthening the governance of state-owned enterprises, developing capital markets and increasing dinarization, improving the provision of social assistance, as well as the transition to a green economy, the IMF said in June.
($=0.849 euro)