WORLD BANK: Bold reforms might lead to 5% growth of Serbia’s GDP

By selling off major state-owned firms and removing regional trade barriers, Serbia could double the size of its economy over the next two decades, Stephen Ndegwa, the World Bank country manager for Serbia, believes.

– If there are bold reforms in the coming 12-18 months you can begin to get to four or five percent (growth) within two years – Stephen Ndegwa told Reuters on Friday, February 2, 2018.

According to him, if Serbia sustains five percent growth over the next 15 years, it can double the size of the economy.

Serbia's economy grew around two percent last year and is expected to grow 3.5 percent this year, Reuters reports.

As the biggest market in the Western Balkans, Serbia would benefit the most from removing trade barriers in the region, Ndegwa estimates.

He adds that Serbia is currently spending three percent of GDP on subsidies to some 600 state-owned firms.

– You can reverse that – he said, adding that by privatizing major firms or making them more efficient they could become contributors to GDP.

He said Serbia needed to reform tax administration and make the business environment more predictable to attract investors.

The EU candidate country needs to increase investment to between 22 and 25 percent of GDP, from an average of 18 percent in the past five years, Ndegwa said.

Svetska Banka-WB Beograd

World Bank office in Serbia

Stephen Ndegwa

reform of tax administration

increase of predictability of the business environment

business environment

predictability of the business environment

privatization of state companies

projections of economic growth of Serbia

growth of GDP of Serbia

GDP