PRISTINA (Kosovo), January 9 (SeeNews) – The World Bank said it expects Kosovo's economy to grow by 4.2% this year, 0.3 percentage points (pp) below the forecast it made in June.
Kosovo is expected to achieve economic growth of 4.1% in 2021, down 0.4 pp from the June forecast, the World Bank said in its January 2020 Global Economic Prospects report published on Wednesday.
The economy of Kosovo grew by an estimated 4.0% last year, accelerating from 3.8% expansion in 2018, the World Bank added.
The World Bank forecasts Kosovo's economic growth at 4.0% in 2022.
“In the Western Balkans, a deceleration in public investment (Kosovo), manufacturing (Serbia), and export growth (Albania, Serbia) contributed to a moderation in growth to an estimated 3.2% in 2019,” the World Bank said, adding that temporary factors related to weather and energy production dampened activity in Albania.
The outlook for the region remains challenging as falling business confidence and heightened uncertainty coincide with a worsening external environment, according to the report.
The Western Balkans region comprising Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, will achieve economic growth of 3.6% in 2020, the World Bank said. Growth in the region is projected at 3.8% in both 2021 and 2022.