January 10 (SeeNews) - The World Bank said it has downgraded its projection for Serbia's economic growth in 2018 to 3.0% from 3.5% envisaged in its June 2017 Global Economic Prospects Report.
Serbia's GDP is expected to grow by 3.5% in 2019 and 4.0% in 2020, the World Bank said in its January 2018 Global Economic Prospects report.
"In Serbia, for example, firms with foreign capital have more efficient production technology, better foreign marketing, and more research and development activity than firms that do not have foreign capital," the lender said.
"Foreign-owned firms initiated greater plant modernization and automation than domestically-owned firms, raising labour productivity."
Slow rise in labour productivity curbs real wage growth in Serbia and contributes to high unemployment and weak economic activity, the World Bank said in a report in November.
The lack of wage growth, together with social assistance, have generated disincentives for potential low-wage and part-time earners to shift from inactivity or from informal to formal-sector jobs, the World Bank said in its report The Western Balkans: Revving Up the Engines of Growth and Prosperity.
Serbia's economy expanded by 2.0% last year, according to the World Bank estimate in the January 2018 Global Economic Prospects report. In June, the World Bank estimated 3.0% economic growth in 2017.