August 25 (SeeNews) - Serbia's economy minister Goran Knezevic said on Friday he is confident that the country's economic growth will reach the projected rate of 3.0% in 2017, despite the drought that has cost the country an estimated 350 million euro ($413 million).
The government will take the necessary measures to speed up the growth of the economy, which will be supported by the positive results of copper miner and smelter RTB Bor, petrochemicals producer and carmaker FCA Srbija, the government's press office quoted Knezevic as saying in an interview with public broadcaster RTS.
The economic growth of Serbia was lower than expected in the first half of 2017, due to the poor weather conditions during the winter, which reduced the production of the construction, mining and energy sectors, while the summer drought has caused damages equivalent to approximately 1% of Serbia's GDP, Knezevic said.
However, as a result of the budget surplus this year, the government will accelerate the implementation of some projects initially scheduled for next year, Knezevic noted.
Earlier this week, prime minister Ana Brnabic said she expects Serbia's economic growth to slow to 2.5% in 2017 from 2.7% last year, due to the negative effects of the drought.
The Serbian economy expanded by a real 1.3% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2017, the country's statistical office said in a flash estimate earlier this month.
Serbia’s GDP growth slowed to 1.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017, from 2.5% in the previous quarter.