May 19 (SeeNews) - Serbia's central bank, the NBS, said that it now expects the country's economy to grow by 3.5%-4.5% in 2022, which is 0.5 percentage points lower compared to its previous forecast made in February.
"The key factors behind the downward revision of real GDP growth include international developments – the negative effects of the conflict and estimates of lower economic growth in the euro area and countries of the region," the lender said in a statement on Wednesday.
The bank has left its medium-term outlook unchanged at 4%-5%, assuming the geopolitical tensions over the war in Ukraine don't become more severe, and the global natural gas supply is not discontinued, the statement read.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the World Bank revised down forecasts for Serbia's economic growth in 2022 to 3.5%, 3.3%, and 3.2%, respectively.
In 2021, Serbia's economy expanded by 7.4% after it contracted by 0.9% a year before.
According to the preliminary data, Serbia's gross domestic product grew by 4.3% in the first quarter of 2022.