April 8 (SeeNews) - The World Bank has lifted its 2016 GDP growth forecast for Montenegro to 3.7% from 2.9% projected in January.
The bank has improved also the country's growth outlook for the next two years - to 3.1% from 3.0% for 2017 and 3.0% from 2.9% for 2018, its latest Global Economic Prospects report, released late on Thursday, showed.
"The economy is estimated to grow by 3.3 percent a year on average over the medium term driven by investment in public infrastructure (highway and energy) and tourism," the report reads. "Improvement in the labor market, led by new employment in services, but also the government's plan to increase public sector wages, pensions, and some social benefits in 2016, will boost private consumption and contribute to further poverty reduction."
The country's real economy is estimated to have expanded by 3.4% in 2015, up from 1.8% in the previous year, fuelled by exports of services and investments in tourism and the construction of the Bar-Boljare highway section.
The bank also noted that rising highway-related imports will likely deepen already large external vulnerabilities with the current account gap seen widening to more than 15% of GDP and external debt exceeding 140% of GDP by 2018.