April 30 (SeeNews) - Serbia's industrial production fell 0.1% year-on-year in March, after rising by 7.6% in February, undershooting the 1% growth predicted by analysts at Austria-based Erste banking group, Erste said on Thursday.
"Industrial production in Serbia contracted 0.1% y/y in March, thus slightly undershooting our expectations of 1% growth," Erste said in an instant comment after Serbia's statistical office published industrial output data earlier in the day.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly comparison basis, the industrial output went down 2.8% in March after increasing 4.4% a month earlier, Serbia's statistical office said in a statement.
"The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to a practical shutdown of the economy since mid-March. The government will now likely begin to gradually relax strong quarantine measures. Despite the fact that the peak of infections is likely behind us, the continuation of business activities will likely be slow, and hence overall output and growth figures during the 2Q will be heavily influenced," Erste said.
Serbia's industrial output, breakdown by industry (y/y pct change):
|
Mar'20 |
Feb'20 |
Total |
-0.1 |
7.6 |
- mining |
0.5 |
15.6 |
- manufacturing |
2.7 |
8.6 |
- utilities |
-9.8 |
1.1 |