BELGRADE (Serbia), August 18 (SeeNews) – Serbia's central bank, the NBS, revised up its forecast for the country's economic development and now expects a 6.5% growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, versus a 6.0% increase projected earlier, governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic said on Wednesday.
"Based on the indicators in the first six months and the expected developments in key sectors of the Serbian economy by the end of the year, we revised our economic growth projection for 2021 upward, from 6.0% to 6.5%," Tabakovic said in remarks to the presentation of NBS August 2021 inflation report published on the bank's website.
The pre-crisis GDP level was exceeded already in the first quarter, three months earlier compared to the initial estimates, and the recovery extended in the second quarter, when Serbia's economy expanded 13.4% year-on-year, Tabakovic said.
"This outcome reflects in part the low base, but also favourable trends since mid-2020," she noted.
In May, Tabakovic said the central bank expects the country's gross domestic product to grow by at least 6% in 2021, backed by the recovery of external demand.
In June, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it expects Serbia's GDP to increase by 6% in 2021, mainly on the back of recovery of consumption and increase in public investments.